Grötlingbo Church () is a medieval church in Grötlingbo on the Swedish island

Gotland Gotland (; ; ''Gutland'' in Gutnish), also historically spelled Gottland or Gothland (), is Sweden's largest island. It is also a Provinces of Sweden, province/Counties of Sweden, county (Swedish län), Municipalities of Sweden, municipality, a ...

. The stately Gothic church contains elements of a Romanesque

frieze In classical architecture, the frieze is the wide central section of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic order, Ionic or Corinthian order, Corinthian orders, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Patera (architecture), Paterae are also ...

, incorporated from an earlier church building on the same site. Görtlingbo Church lies within the

Diocese of Visby The Diocese of Visby () is a division of the Church of Sweden consisting of the island of Gotland. Its seat is Visby Cathedral located in the largest town on Gotland, Visby. The Bishop of Visby is also responsible for the episcopal oversight of ...

History

The earliest written record of the church is from 1296, when it is mentioned in a

papal bull A papal bull is a type of public decree, letters patent, or charter issued by the pope of the Catholic Church. It is named after the leaden Seal (emblem), seal (''bulla (seal), bulla'') traditionally appended to authenticate it. History Papal ...

. Archaeological excavations carried out in 1956–1957 however show that there was a stone church here already in the 12th century. The finely carved

relief Relief is a sculpture, sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces remain attached to a solid background of the same material. The term ''wikt:relief, relief'' is from the Latin verb , to raise (). To create a sculpture in relief is to give ...

s that adorn the southern façade of the present church obviously come from this first, Romanesque church and have been incorporated in the later Gothic church that is visible today. The western tower was added in the 13th century, and a major reconstruction of the church into its present form was carried out during the late 14th century. The church has remained largely unaltered since, except for a few new furnishings.

Asger Jorn Asger Oluf Jorn (3 March 1914 – 1 May 1973) was a Danish painter, sculptor, ceramic artist, and author. He was a founding member of the avant-garde movement COBRA and the Situationist International. The largest collection of Jorn's works� ...

is buried in the church cemetery.

Architecture

The church is large in comparison with other country churches on Gotland, and built of local

sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

. The

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

is divided in three sections by sturdy columns. The

choir A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...

lacks an

apse In architecture, an apse (: apses; from Latin , 'arch, vault'; from Ancient Greek , , 'arch'; sometimes written apsis; : apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical Vault (architecture), vault or semi-dome, also known as an ' ...

and instead ends with three slender Gothic windows, a design typical for medieval churches on Gotland. The tower is Romanesque but the spire dates from the 18th century. The southern façade is adorned with elements of a Romanesque frieze, made by the artist commonly referred to as Sigraf and dating from circa 1200. They depict animals, both real and mystical, as well as fighting men and

knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

s on horseback. Scholars are divided as to what they may depict. Some speculate that they may be an illustration of evil forces, pursuing humans. Others argue that they may be illustrating an ancient tale, perhaps that of

Beowulf ''Beowulf'' (; ) is an Old English poetry, Old English poem, an Epic poetry, epic in the tradition of Germanic heroic legend consisting of 3,182 Alliterative verse, alliterative lines. It is one of the most important and List of translat ...

. Later and Gothic in style are the two carved portals on south side of the church. They date from the middle of the 14th century and the workshop has been identified as the

notname In art history, a (, "name of necessity" or "contingency name") is an invented name given to an artist whose identity has been lost. The practice arose from the need to give such artists and their typically untitled or generically titled works a ...

Egypticus, which was active on Gotland during c. 1330–1380.Roosval, Johnny (1911) ''Die Kirchen Gotlands, ein Beitrag zur mittelalterlichen Kunstgeschichte Schwedens'' (Leipzig : E.A. Seeman) They depicts Christian scenes such as the

Virgin Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

and the

Resurrection Resurrection or anastasis is the concept of coming back to life after death. Reincarnation is a similar process hypothesized by other religions involving the same person or deity returning to another body. The disappearance of a body is anothe ...

. Typically for Egypticus the sculpted portals also include grinning, grotesque faces. Inside the church a few 14th century murals survive in the choir, depicting Christian scenes of the same type as the sculpted portals. The vaults in the nave also have some purely decorative paintings. Between the nave and the choir hangs a large triumphal cross, dating from the middle of the 13th century. The

baptismal font A baptismal font is an Church architecture, ecclesiastical architectural element, which serves as a receptacle for baptismal water used for baptism, as a part of Christian initiation for both rites of Infant baptism, infant and Believer's bapti ...

is also a work by Sigraf and referred to as one of the finest examples of the sculptor's art. 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, accesse ...

dates from the

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

and was originally made for

Visby Cathedral Visby Cathedral (), formally Visby Saint Mary's Cathedral (''Visby Sankta Maria domkyrka''), is a cathedral within the Church of Sweden, seat of the Diocese of Visby, Bishop of Visby. It lies in the centre of Visby, the main town on the Swedish ...

. It still displays the Danish coat of arms, rather than the Swedish.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Grotlingbo Church Romanesque architecture in Sweden Gothic architecture in Sweden Churches in Gotland County Churches in the Diocese of Visby Church frescos in Sweden Churches converted from the Roman Catholic Church to the Church of Sweden

History

Architecture

References

Further reading

External links