Grödinge tapestry ( sv, Grödingebonaden) is a type of handwoven
tapestry that is on display at the
Swedish History Museum
The Swedish History Museum ( sv, Historiska museet or Statens historiska museum) is a museum located in Stockholm, Sweden, that covers Swedish archaeology and cultural history from the Mesolithic period to present day. Founded in 1866, it operat ...
in
Stockholm
Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...
, Sweden. It originates from the Grödinge Church (''Grödinge kyrka'') in the
Diocese of Strängnäs at
Botkyrka Municipality in
Södermanland County, Sweden. The tapestry was donated to the Swedish History Museum in 1910.
[''Svensk uppslagsbok'' Malmö, 1932.]
History
The weave has been dated to the 15th century. The tapestry is made in a weaving technique called
double cloth (''finnväv''), and it has a symmetrical square pattern in blue and white with lions,
griffins and eagles or falcons, as well as dragons along the lower edge. All animals are depicted in profile and in the same direction. The dragons along the lower part of the tapestry are linked to each other with their long tails.
The patterns on the Grödinge tapestry have been associated to patterns from
Byzantium
Byzantium () or Byzantion ( grc, Βυζάντιον) was an ancient Greek city in classical antiquity that became known as Constantinople in late antiquity and Istanbul today. The Greek name ''Byzantion'' and its Latinization ''Byzantium'' cont ...
, with clear traces of
Scandinavian influences. The Grödinge tapestry consists of two lengths, of which one has remaining edges which shows the
weave width to be about . The original length for both the tapestries is unknown.
The tapestry is made of wool. It stands out for great technical finesse and clear composition, representing the transition between the early medieval textiles made in double cloth and the later ones with strong renaissance elements. A simpler version from
Sankt MÃ¥rten in the
National Museum of Finland in
Helsinki. Other tapestries of the same kind have been found in Södra Råda and Överenhörna in Sweden, and at
Rauma, Finland.
In 1971, the
Swedish postal service issued two stamps featuring motifs from the tapestry: a lion and a griffin.
See also
*
Överhogdal tapestries
*
Skog tapestry
References
External links
Grödinge Church website
Scandinavian folklore
Tapestries">Scandinavian folklore">Grödinge Church website
Scandinavian folklore
Tapestries
Medieval Sweden]
Medieval textile design
Textile arts of Sweden
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