Norwegian Medieval Churches and Church Art – Wood, Stone and Pigment
As churches and church art are among the few material remnants from the middle ages in
Norway, they are valuable as sources to understand medieval life and mentality. The
relevance of the churches in this respect is strengthened by the central position of Christian
beliefs and practices among people in the middle ages.
This course’s aim is to give an overview of the development of church types and church
architecture in wood and stone in medieval Norway. Likewise the course will go through the
most important types of religious art; sculpture and panel paintings, and look into it’s
messages and use. The course will contextualize the churches and the church art both as part
of the European common culture of the time and as a clue to socio-political issues. The
teaching will be a combination of lectures and field studies.
The point of departure for the lectures will be as follows:
 The missionary period; the first churches, the builders, architectural vocabulary.
 The use of the churches. Worship and liturgy. Form and function; the monasteries as a
case study.
 The stave churches and their carved portals.
 Visit to Gol stave church at Bygdø.
 The Romanesque stone churches. Wooden sculpture and painted altar frontals.
 Visit to Gamle Aker Church.
 Trondheim cathedral and the gothic architecture. Stone sculpture.