Nødebo Church ( Danish: ''Nødebo Kirke'') is located in Nødebo in the northern part of the Danish island of

Zealand Zealand ( ) is the largest and most populous islands of Denmark, island in Denmark proper (thus excluding Greenland and Disko Island, which are larger in size) at 7,031 km2 (2715 sq. mi.). Zealand had a population of 2,319,705 on 1 Januar ...

. It is situated on the south-western shore of

Lake Esrum Lake Esrum (, ) is the largest lake in Denmark by water volume and the second-largest lake by surface area, after lake Arresø. It is situated in the central part of North Zealand (the northeastern region of Zealand), straddling the boundaries of ...

, 5 km north of

Hillerød Hillerød () is a Denmark, Danish town with a population of 36,604 (1 January 2025)Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

. The church is known for its church frescos and its early 16th century

altarpiece An altarpiece is a painting or sculpture, including relief, of religious subject matter 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 or sculpture, ...

History

Originally a

pilgrimage church A pilgrimage church () is a church to which Christian pilgrimage, pilgrimages are regularly made, or a church along a pilgrimage route, like the Way of St. James, that is visited by pilgrims. Pilgrimage churches are often located by the graves o ...

, it was built in the 13th century in the

Romanesque style Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of medieval Europe that was predominant in the 11th and 12th centuries. The style eventually developed into the Gothic style with the shape of the arches providing a simple distinction: the Ro ...

at the site of a holy spring dedicated to

Mary Magdalene Mary Magdalene (sometimes called Mary of Magdala, or simply the Magdalene or the Madeleine) was a woman who, according to the four canonical gospels, traveled with Jesus as one of his followers and was a witness to crucifixion of Jesus, his cr ...

. Around 1400, the church was furnished with vaults and extended to the west. The dimensions of the walls indicate that a tower may also have been planned for but it was never built. Instead, a

flèche Flèche or Fleche may refer to: * Flèche (architecture), a type of church spire * Flèche (cycling), a team cycling competition * Flèche (fencing), an aggressive offensive fencing technique * Flèche (fortification), a defensive work *, ships of ...

was added in 1739 as a replacement of a free-standing bell tower. Nødebo Parish was annexed to Esbønderup Parish until 1907. In 1903 it was given its own

chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secular institution (such as a hospital, prison, military unit, intellige ...

and in 1907 was established as an independent parish which also included Gadevang Church which had been consecrated in 1904 in the neighbourting community of Gadevang.

Church frescos

Nødebo Church is famous for its church frescos, the oldest of which, found on the triumphal wall, date back to late-Romanesque times. The vaults of the two bays of the nave and the choir are covered in paintings from 1425 while the tower bay is decorated with paintings by the so-called Union Master. The frescos present various scenes from the

Biblia pauperum The (Latin for "Paupers' Bible") was a tradition of picture Bibles beginning probably with Ansgar, and a common printed block-book in the later Middle Ages to visualize the typological correspondences between the Old and New Testaments. Unlike ...

, including

Adam and Eve Adam and Eve, according to the creation myth of the Abrahamic religions, were the first man and woman. They are central to the belief that humanity is in essence a single family, with everyone descended from a single pair of original ancestors. ...

working surrounded by 14 children, the presentation of Christ in front of

Pilate Pontius Pilate (; ) was the fifth governor of the Roman province of Judaea, serving under Emperor Tiberius from 26/27 to 36/37 AD. He is best known for being the official who presided over the trial of Jesus and ultimately ordered his cruc ...

and other scenes from the

, and Marian coronation. File:Nødebo-Kirke (20).jpg File:Nødebo-Kirke (22).jpg File:Nødebo-Kirke (24d).jpg File:Nødebo-Kirke (20c).jpg

Furnishings

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 ...

is from 1668 and executed in the

Baroque style The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from the early 17th century until the 1750s. It followed Renaissance art and Mannerism and preceded the Rococo (i ...

by Esben Børresen from

Slangerup Slangerup is a town in Frederikssund Municipality, about 30 km north-west of central Copenhagen, in the Capital Region of Denmark. The town of Slangerup The town was established by the Viking Slangir at the time of Harald Bluetooth. King Er ...

. According to an inscription on its base, it was a donation from the honest and wise man Paul Steenbech, Mayor of Slangerup". Its present is an addition from 1748. The

was painted in the beginning of the 16th century in the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

and has previously been located in a church in Elsinore. It is a

triptych A triptych ( ) is a work of art (usually a panel painting) that is divided into three sections, or three carved panels that are hinged together and can be folded shut or displayed open. It is therefore a type of polyptych, the term for all m ...

depicting the Calvary scene with the crucified Christ surrounded by

ary ARY may stand for: * Abdul Razzak Yaqoob, a Pakistani expatriate businessman * Andre Romelle Young, real name of Dr. Dre * Ary and the Secret of Seasons, an action adventure video game * ARY Digital, a Pakistani television network * ARY Digital Net ...

, ohn and

Adriaen Isenbrandt Adriaen Isenbrandt or Adriaen Ysenbrandt (between 1480 and 1490 – July 1551) was a painter in Bruges, in the final years of Early Netherlandish painting, and the first of the Dutch and Flemish Renaissance painting of the Northern Renaissance. ...

and Jacob van Utrecht have been suggested as the possible artists. The

font In metal typesetting, a font is a particular size, weight and style of a ''typeface'', defined as the set of fonts that share an overall design. For instance, the typeface Bauer Bodoni (shown in the figure) includes fonts " Roman" (or "regul ...

is from Romanesque times. It is carved in a single

Trapezoid In geometry, a trapezoid () in North American English, or trapezium () in British English, is a quadrilateral that has at least one pair of parallel sides. The parallel sides are called the ''bases'' of the trapezoid. The other two sides are ...

piece of granite which was probably originally the

capital Capital and its variations may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** Capital region, a metropolitan region containing the capital ** List of national capitals * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Econom ...

of a column. File:Nødebo-Kirke (09).jpg, Altar File:Nødebo-Kirke (11).jpg, Baptismal font File:Nødebo-Kirke (17).jpg, Organ at the rear of the nave

Cemetery

Notable burials at the church include: *William Sophus Dahl (1842–1910), merchant *

V. Falbe-Hansen ''V.'' is a satirical postmodern novel and the debut novel of Thomas Pynchon, published on March 18, 1963. It describes the exploits of a discharged U.S. Navy sailor named Benny Profane, his reconnection in New York with a group of pseudo-bohe ...

(1841–1932), politician and economist *

Aage Fredenslund Aage is a Danish masculine given name and a less common spelling of the Norwegian given name Åge. Variants include the Swedish name Åke. People with the name Aage include: First name * Count Aage of Rosenborg (1887–1940), Danish prince and ...

(1941–1995), professor *

Anna Lundqvist Anna may refer to: People Surname and given name * Anna (name) Mononym * Anna the Prophetess, in the Gospel of Luke * Anna of East Anglia, King (died c.654) * Anna (wife of Artabasdos) (fl. 715–773) * Anna (daughter of Boris I) (9th–10th c ...

(1888–1976), painter *

Carl Lundqvist Carl may refer to: *Carl, Georgia, city in USA *Carl, West Virginia, an unincorporated community *Carl (name), includes info about the name, variations of the name, and a list of people with the name *Carl², a TV series * "Carl", an episode of tel ...

(1883–1949), architect *

Axel Østrup Axel may refer to: People * Axel (name), all persons with the name Places * Axel, Netherlands, a town ** Capture of Axel, a battle at Axel in 1586 Arts, entertainment, media * ''Axel'', a 1988 short film by Nigel Wingrove * ''Axel'', a Cirque ...

(1989–1967), artist and architect

Gallery

Kreuzigungsaltar Nødebo-Kirke.jpg, Altarpiece Nødebo-Kirke_(10).jpg, Pulpit Nødebo-Kirke_(17).jpg, Organ Nordenskirker 61Noedebo69.jpg, Baptismal

References