Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

England—Norge—Sverige i 1200‐talets plastik

1955; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 24; Issue: 1-4 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/00233605508603555

1651-2294

Aron Andersson,

Libraries, Manuscripts, and Books

Summary In this article the author wishes to add to certain points in his treatise “English Influence in Norwegian and Swedish Figure Sculpture in Wood 1220–1270”, (Stockholm, 1949.) One of the chief works of the so‐called London School of Purbeck marble of the former part of the 13th century is King John's tomb in Worcester Cathedral, which can be dated ante 1232, thanks to a report by the Tewkesbury Annalist. Two Norwegian Madonnas (fig. 1) have been determined as representative of this sculpture trend in London and they may be compared to a related Madonna on the seal of the Augustine monastery at Merton from 1241 (fig. 2). A crucifix from Mosviken Church belongs to the same school of sculpture as the Norwegian Madonnas (fig. 3). This in turn can be compared to a bronze crucifix in the Victoria and Albert Museum (fig. 4), determined as English work by the donator, Dr. W. L. Hildburgh. The crucifix is of the same iconographical type: straight, extended position with horizontal arms, slender conventionalized body and rich, softly draped loincloth. A contemporary, more modern trend in sculpture under French influence existed in England during the second quarter of the 13th century. This trend can be studied in the rows of statues on the west facade of Wells Cathedral and in the first seal of Henry III (fig. 5). A woodcarving school in Trondheim during the middle of the century made statues of saints under the influence of this English school of sculpture. These figures were exported to Sweden (fig. 6) and inspired a school of sculpture in the Mälarprovinces. This Swedish school, however, has also had a more direct contact with French or English classicistic sculpture, evident in the Madonna from V. Skrukeby (fig. 7), which is one of the prototypes for Swedish Madonnas like the one from Rimbo (fig. 8). The equestrian seal from around 1250 (fig. 9–10, and in representation fig. 11), belonging to the Swedish regent Birger Jarl, finds, in composition and details, its closest parallells in foreign seal art in English equestrian seals. The cross in a crescent moon set above the horseman's head is a characteristic detail in Birger Jarl's seal appearing in the same way as a helmet ornamentation on the seal of Henry III (fig. 12). Birger Jarl's equestrian seals were perhaps executed in an English seal manufacturing shop. In 1236 King Håkon Håkonsson of Norway received a seal as a gift from Henry III, a replica of King Henry's own — perhaps he wished to confer the same honour on Birger Jarl in connection with the two regents’ exchange of embassies around 1250. The east Norwegian group of sculpture referred to as the Balke school is English in character, bul in England itself all examples of this school's activity have been destroyed; its style is only preserved in manuscript illuminations and monumental paintings (fig. 16). In this school the crucifix retains the same iconographical type as that of Mosviken, a type that lingered conservatively in England until around 1300 (fig. 17).