Painted Altar Frontals of Norway, 1250 – 1350, Volumes 1-3

This lavishly illustrated three-volume set presents a comprehensive study of thirty-one medieval painted altar frontals from Norway, dating from 1250-1350. Combining art historical and scientific analysis, the volumes explore their style, iconography, construction, and painting techniques within a wider European context. Featuring contributions from leading scholars, the research offers new insights into early European oil painting and positions these rare Norwegian panels as a major contribution to the understanding of Northern medieval art.

This handsome, lavishly illustrated, three-volume boxed set is the culmination of research by an international team of art historians and scientists. Painted altar frontals from the Middle Ages are rare. Thirty-one painted altar frontals, tentatively dated on stylistic criteria to the period 1250-1350 and originating from parish churches in Norway, are still preserved – mainly in the museums of Bergen and Oslo. The frontals, the largest group of medieval panel paintings in northern Europe of the period before 1350, were apparently painted in Norway following contemporary practice in other European countries. The models appear to have been mainly English, with iconography and style following other general contemporary developments in France and Germany. This multi-volume book is an exhaustive survey, covering both art history and technology. It is an important source for everyone interested in Northern medieval painting. The first volume is the co-operative work of three authors, E.B. Hohler, N.J. Morgan and A. Wichstrom. It presents the history, style and iconography of the paintings and discusses their art historical and liturgical significance in a European context. The second, written by U. Plahter with contributions from B. Kaland, K. von Salis, S. Stos and R. White, presents the carpentry and the painting techniques, with analyses of the materials, their composition and their origin. The thorough studies of these paintings in Norway have established new facts about European medieval oil painting in general and are presented here for the first time in their complete context. The third volume, compiled by U. Plahter, contains the illustrations. This study of the iconographical, stylistic and technical aspects of these panels is a major contribution to the study of early European painting.

Volume 1: Artists, Style and Iconography

Introduction

Nigel J. Morgan

Norwegian altar frontals in a European context: form and function

Nigel J. Morgan

Research history

Erla B. Hohler

Dating, styles and groupings

Nigel J. Morgan

Iconography

Nigel J. Morgan

The frontals in their contemporary society

Erla B. Hohler

General description of the panels

Anne Wichstrom and Erla B. Hohler

The catalogue

Bo Church

Dale I

Dale II

Eid Church

Hamre Church

Hauge Church

Heddal ('Hiterdal') Church

Kaupanger Church

Kinsarvik Church

KvAefjord Church

Mooruvellir Church

Nedstryn Church

Nes I

Odda Church

Roldal Church

Samnanger

Skaun

,

Volume 1: Artists, Style and Iconography

Introduction

Nigel J. Morgan

Norwegian altar frontals in a European context: form and function

Nigel J. Morgan

Research history

Erla B. Hohler

Dating, styles and groupings

Nigel J. Morgan

Iconography

Nigel J. Morgan

The frontals in their contemporary society

Erla B. Hohler

General description of the panels

Anne Wichstrøm and Erla B. Hohler

The catalogue

Bø Church

Dale I

Dale II

Eid Church

Hamre Church

Hauge Church

Heddal ('Hiterdal') Church

Kaupanger Church

Kinsarvik Church

Kvæfjord Church

Möðruvellir Church

Nedstryn Church

Nes I

Odda Church

Røldal Church

Samnanger

Skaun

Tingelstad I

Tingelstad II

Tingelstad III

Tjugum Church

Tresfjord Church

Trondheim

Ulvik Church

Vanylven Church

Volbu Church

Øye Church

Årdal I

Årdal II

Årdal III

Endnotes

Bibliography

Index

Volume 2: Materials and Technique

Part I: Support: materials and construction

Materials: boards; frames; cross-battens • Construction: frame and cross battens • Pegs, treenails and iron nails • Joining methods • Summary: construction; species of wood; typical features of earlier versus later panels

Part II: Paint: materials and technique

Ground • Pictorial layers • Pigments • Binding media • Varnish • Ornaments in silver and gold leaf • Painting technique; colours and pigments; composition and range of colours • Layered structures • Pictorial elements and their colour: flesh; face and hair

Part III: Analyses: colouring materials and binding media

The palette • Methods of analysis • Colouring materials, their use, characteristics and identification • Chalk analyses ( by Unn Plather and Katharina von Salis) • Lead isotop analyses of lead-based pigments(by Sophie Stos) • Binding media( by Unn Plather and Raymond White)

Part IV: Discussion

General remarks • Support and preparation layers • General and particular features • The carpenter and the painter • Painting materials and technique • Imported or local features • Comparisons with related material: colouring materials and typical trends in the 12th, 13th, and 14th centuries • Norwegian works of art • Spanish frontals • Frontals and tabernacles • Style, technique and workshop relationships

Part V: The catalogue

See contents listing, Volume 1

Endnotes

Bibliography

Index

Volume 3: Illustrations and Drawings

The third volume presents the colour plates and diagrams of panel structures as well as the incised and painted designs.

• By (author) Anne Wichstrøm
• By (author) Nigel J. Morgan
• By (author) Erla B. Hohler
• By (author) Unn Plahter

"Throughout, a minute attention to detail and an intimate understanding of the Norwegian and wider European contexts make this publication a milestone in the study both of medieval Norwegian art and of the early development of European altar paintings." The Burlington Magazine 147(1233) (December 2005) 827-828
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Throughout, a minute attention to detail and an intimate understanding of the Norwegian and wider European contexts make this publication a milestone in the study both of medieval Norwegian art and of the early development of European altar paintings.

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