All entirely preserved tabernacle shrines in Norway date from the late Middle Ages. Most feature painted representations on the insides of the wings instead of relief figures, as was common in older shrines. Late medieval shrines often carry painted figurations also on the outsides, whereas most older shrines were only painted in one or two colours.

 

When opened, the shrine shows four standing saints against a red background, from left to right: a holy bishop (St Augustine?), St George with the dragon, St Catherine with the wheel and St Barbara with a tower. The four wings have the same width as the back panel, indicating that the shrine had a five-sided ground plan (the current pedestal is new), which is unparalleled among extant European shrines. It is not certain whether the sculpture of St John the Baptist and the tabernacle shrine, that are now exposed together, matched originally.

The exterior of the tabernacle shrine from Granvin shows the two Norwegian saints Olav and Sunniva; their style, however, suggests that the paintings were carried out in northern Germany.

Northern Germany (Lübeck?), 1450–1475
From Granvin (Hardanger)
Inv. no. MA 43