Altar frontals served to decorate the front of the altar in medieval churches. Painted wooden frontals were once widespread throughout Europe, but the only surviving concentrations of this object type are now found in Norway and Catalonia. This painted example from the vanished stave church at Ulvik on the Hardangerfjord is one of the oldest…Continue reading 11 Altar Frontal from Ulvik
Category: Frontaler
15 Altar Frontal from Kinsarvik
This altar frontal from Kinsarvik on the Hardangerfjord shows a multi-figured Crucifixion scene in a simultaneous narrative inside a multi-lobed frame in the central section. Christ hangs from the cross in a slightly bent posture. His head bows to the right side and he is looking at his mother Mary. St John the Evangelist stands…Continue reading 15 Altar Frontal from Kinsarvik
18 Altar Frontal from Nedstryn
This painted panel from Nedstryn was the first altar frontal to enter the Bergen collection, and the subject of the first art historical research paper published by its founder, Wilhem Frimann Koren Christie. It is composed of two wide boards set inside a frame with oval incisions. The entire surface is occupied by eight circles…Continue reading 18 Altar Frontal from Nedstryn