On the island of Giske, north of Ålesund, stands a well-built twelfth-century church of white marble that was founded by a prominent nobleman. From this church stems a three-figure Romanesque Calvary group that, despite its battered state, still betrays its remarkable artistic quality. The original polychromy, the cross and arms of the Christ figure, as well as part of his feet, were in all likelihood lost in the seventeenth century, when the church fell into ruin. The flanking Virgin Mary and St John stand on square pedestals that were probably attached to a horizontal cross beam. When the founder of Bergens Museum, Wilhelm Frimann Koren Christie, visited Giske in 1847, the figures were stored in a chest under the pulpit. From the same marble church, the collection also has a Marian figure (c. 1250, inv. no. MA 334a).

The head of the Christ figure is inclined sharply to the right and the eyes are shut. The hair falls over the shoulders and the figure wears a long loin cloth that reaches below the left knee, with a thick fold sitting at the top. Mary holds her hands together before her chest in a classical prayer pose, while St John keeps his arms down, his hands also folded. The garments of both figures hang down in long parallel pleats; St John wears his cloak draped over his left shoulder.

Harry Fett discerned Classical traits in the remarkably elongated heads of the three figures, which he assumed were derived from Byzantine influences. Similar characteristics are also found in England, northwestern France, and Flanders during the same period. This, together with the figures’ high quality, makes it plausible that the Calvary group was imported from overseas to the small island off the Norwegian west coast.

Northwestern France or England (?), 1200-1220
From Giske (Sunnmøre), in the museum since 1847
Hardwood
H 131 x W 30 x D 17.5 cm (Christ)
H 125 x W 32.5 x D 14 cm (Virgin)
H 128.5 x W 30 x D 14 cm (St John)
Inv. no. MA 333a-c