Täby Church ( sv, Täby kyrka) is a medieval church in Täby Municipality, in the province of

Uppland Uppland () is a historical province or ' on the eastern coast of Sweden, just north of Stockholm, the capital. It borders Södermanland, Västmanland and Gästrikland. It is also bounded by lake Mälaren and the Baltic Sea. On the small uninhab ...

north of

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 ...

. The church is best known for its painted walls and ceilings by

Albertus Pictor Albertus Pictor (English, "Albert the Painter"; Immenhusen, c. 1440 – c. 1507), also called Albert Pictor, Albert Målare and Albrekt Pärlstickare (Swedish), is the most famous late medieval Swedish painter, known for his wallpaintings survivi ...

."Täby kyrka"
, FormOnLine. Retrieved 30 August 2013.

History

The church was built during the second half of the 13th century. It was first constructed as a square hall church. In the mid-14th century a vestry was added and about 100 years later the church porch was built. During the second half of the 15th century, the flat wooden ceiling was replaced by a

vaulted ceiling In architecture, a vault (French ''voûte'', from Italian ''volta'') is a self-supporting arched form, usually of stone or brick, serving to cover a space with a ceiling or roof. As in building an arch, a temporary support is needed while ring ...

. The

altarpiece An altarpiece is an artwork such as a painting, sculpture or relief representing a religious subject made for placing at the back of or behind the altar of a Christian church. Though most commonly used for a single work of art such as a painting o ...

dates from the 1470s."Täby kyrka"
Svenska kyrkan. Retrieved 30 August 2013. A

runestone A runestone is typically a raised stone with a runic inscription, but the term can also be applied to inscriptions on boulders and on bedrock. The tradition began in the 4th century and lasted into the 12th century, but most of the runestones da ...

is immured in the church porch.

Paintings

The church is decorated with mural paintings by

, one of Sweden's preeminent medieval painters, who died in 1511. Pictor's ceiling frescos are from the 1480s and, unlike many of his other works, were never whitewashed over. They include a picture of a man playing

chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to disti ...

with Death, a motif that inspired

Ingmar Bergman Ernst Ingmar Bergman (14 July 1918 – 30 July 2007) was a Swedish film director, screenwriter, Film producer, producer and playwright. Widely considered one of the greatest and most influential filmmakers of all time, his films are known ...

to a famous scene in the movie '' The Seventh Seal''. The motif is very unusual, known only from one other source. The main inspiration for the paintings was '' Biblia Pauperum'', a collection of events from the Holy Bible. The church, together with the frescos, was comprehensively restored in 1994.

Furnishings

The

from the 1470s depicts the Golgotha scene and is flanked by a sculpture of St. Olof. The

pulpit A pulpit is a raised stand for preachers in a Christian church. The origin of the word is the Latin ''pulpitum'' (platform or staging). The traditional pulpit is raised well above the surrounding floor for audibility and visibility, access ...

is from the 1630s and was originally placed in the chapel of the former Castle of Stockholm.

Gallery

File:Taby kyrka altar.jpg, Interior view towards the altar File:Taby kyrka ceiling painting3.jpg, The decorated vaults File:Runsten inmurad i kyrkogrunden.jpg, Runestone immured in the church porch

References

External links

Täby kyrka

Täby kyrka official webpage on the Church of Sweden's website.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Taby Kyrka 13th-century churches in Sweden Buildings and structures in Stockholm County Tourist attractions in Stockholm County Church frescos in Sweden Churches in the Diocese of Stockholm (Church of Sweden) Churches converted from the Roman Catholic Church to the Church of Sweden