Täby Church () 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. The name literally ...

north of

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

. 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 A hall church is a Church (building), church with a nave and aisles of approximately equal height. In England, Flanders and the Netherlands, it is covered by parallel roofs, typically, one for each vessel, whereas in Germany there is often one s ...

. In the mid-14th century a vestry was added and about 100 years later the

church porch A church porch is a room-like structure at a church's main entrance. A porch protects from the weather to some extent. Some porches have an outer door, others a simple gate, and in some cases the outer opening is not closed in any way. The 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 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, ...

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

runestone A runestone is typically a raised stone with a runic alphabet, runic inscription, but the term can also be applied to inscriptions on boulders and on bedrock. The tradition of erecting runestones as a memorial to dead men began in the 4th centur ...

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. It is an abstract strategy game that involves Perfect information, no hidden information and no elements of game of chance, chance. It is played on a square chessboard, board consisting of 64 squares arran ...

with Death, a motif that inspired

Ingmar Bergman Ernst Ingmar Bergman (14 July 1918 – 30 July 2007) was a Swedish film and theatre director and screenwriter. Widely considered one of the greatest and most influential film directors of all time, his films have been described as "profoun ...

to a famous scene in the movie ''

The Seventh Seal ''The Seventh Seal'' () is a 1957 Swedish historical fantasy film written and directed by Ingmar Bergman. Set in Sweden during the Black Death, it tells of the journey of a medieval knight (Max von Sydow) and a game of chess he plays with the p ...

''. 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, accesse ...

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 Churches 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 Täby Municipality 13th-century establishments in Sweden