Stifterbilleder og deres ikonografi i danske 1100-tals fresker. Kong Niels og Dronning Margrete Fredkulla malet i Vä Kirke (1121–22) og elleve andre kirker med stifterfigurer

Abstract

Title:  Donor pictures and their iconography  in Danish frescos from the 12th century

The article deals principally with the royal donor images, their interpretation and context, in the Romanesque church of Vä in southern Sweden (Scania). The donor images in the nearby Gualöv Church are also taken into consideration, since they, together with those in Vä, are the only ones preserved from Mediaeval Denmark that represent identifiable persons. On the east wall of the choir are the poorly preserved donor images of the Danish King Niels (1104–34) and his Swedish born queen, Margaret Fredkulla († c. 1130). Most unusually, the queen is presenting a church model and the king a reliquary. The main altar is dated to 1121 on the basis of a parchment found in a reliquary. According to a new interpretation, a rune inscription mentions the Queen’s brother Ragnvald and their sister Kristina († 1122). In Gualöv Church a scroll with an inscription indicates that the donor had the frescoes painted for the salvation of his deceased wife’s soul. Contour drawings of twelve painted donors from different 12th century churches in Mediaeval Denmark are presented together with short descriptions of the iconography, the donor’s status, garments, gender and symbolic gifts, in order to place the royal donors in Vä church in their contemporary context and elucidate the significance of donor images of the time.