Gavegivningens gestik i 1500-tallets Danmark

Title: Gestures of Gift Giving in 16th Century Denmark The article deals with body language and gestures in depictions of donors in 16th-century Danish art, especially concerning donations to churches after the Lutheran Reformation in 1536. The transition from the medieval, Catholic Church into a Lutheran Church introduced a new understanding of gift giving in a Christian context. Gift giving is typically a matter of reciprocity, as expressed in the phrase “do ut des” (I give so that you may give). In the Middle Ages lay people who gave gifts to churches/God could expect prayers and liturgical intercession in return. The Lutherans claimed that humans cannot give God anything. The gift relation between God and humans remains one-sided, since God gives and man receives. Did this changed understanding of gift giving lead to a change in the gestures in portrayals of donors in art? The traditional gesture of kneeling and praying in front of a religious scene had since the 15th century been a manifestation of the social status and piety of the donor, while the introvert look of the donor might inspire the beholder to imitation. After the Reformation, Danish donors were typically depicted in the traditional gesture of prayer but with a significant change:  they now turned their back on the religious scene and looked out at the beholder. Their gesture indicates that they no longer prayed in order to receive something from God, but to thank him for the worldly gifts and the gift of faith he had bestowed upon them

Øllet eller ideen?

The Beer or the Idea? On the Understanding of Crookedness in Danish Medieval Art By Poul Grinder-Hansen Should iconographical crookedness be explained as the result of beer and blunders or as intentional expressions of ideas? Blunders may be a possibility, but I think that you should always look first for the ideas – at least when you talk of art in a religious sphere. The essay considers some examples from Danish wall paintings and altarpieces. Fig. 1 shows how the painter has become aware of an iconographical mistake and has tried to correct it with an inscription. Figs. 2-4 are examples where a mixture of different iconographical themes was probably intended to enrich the pictorial statement. A golden retable (fig. 5) only representing 10 out of 12 Apostles – yet giving all names in the inscriptions – is probably the result of some practical problem, while the strange, yet original order of the reliefs in fig. 6 must have some, as yet unsolved iconological significance. Figs. 7-10 depict an altarpiece, which was imported from Northern Germany in separated parts and was put together -wrongly -, in Denmark, in spite of careful numberings and marks made by the German carpenters. It was ordered and erected as an altar for the Scottish community of Elsinore dedicated to the Scottish national saint Ninian, yet the order of the pictures is – and has always been – highly confusing. It is rather frustrating to us as researchers that an altarpiece could apparently be used without much care for the iconographical sense. The reason is, probably, that the Scots in Elsinore chose to stress other aspects of the iconography than the German producers had expected. It seems that they concentrated on the first and finest position of the triptych with its carved figures, using also the wing with a painting of St. Ninian giving alms, which the German workshop had really intended for the closed, third position of the triptych. The triptych may thus only have been used in its open position. Lastly the so-called primitive wall paintings of the late Middle Ages are discussed. These should not, as has sometimes been the case, be considered as casual, more or less popular and controversial, almost anti-clerical decorations. Their simple, yet decorative ornaments and symbols stress the lines of the newly erected vaults of the churches and should probably be understood as the final touch given by the masons to complete the work. Their paintings have been found in many churches covering all aspects of society from village churches to monasteries. They are not as a rule to be seen as drunken jokes but as serious pictorial statements. Which not goes to say that feasts and fun could not be a part of it all

Textiles and environment in the showcase containing Saint Canute the Holy († AD 1086):Radiocarbon dating and chemical interactions

The cathedral in Odense, Denmark, has for nine centuries held the relics of the Danish King St Canute the Holy and his brother Benedikt. They were both murdered in the predecessor church at the site in AD 1086, and Canute was sanctified in already in AD 1100. The history of the relics has been that of turmoil at times, varying from initial worship of the Catholic believers, to being walled up and hidden away after the protestant reformation in AD 1536, and since the 19th Century on display as important heritage objects of national importance. In the present work we have characterised some of the textiles and analysed the air inside the glass showcases exhibiting the 11th Century wooden coffins holding the remains of St King Canute the Holy and his brother together with some precious textiles. Contrary to previous belief, we now prove that all the textiles analysed have the same age, which is consistent with the time of the enshrinement of the King and his brother in AD 1100. It is also shown that some of the textiles were treated with paraffin wax, most likely during attempts at conservation at the National Museum in the nineteenth century. The results of the air chemistry analyses show the problematic side of simultaneously storing of slowly decaying wood, fine textiles, and human bones in rather airtight environments. The wood continuously releases organic acids, the soaring concentrations of which are potentially harmful to the 11th Century textiles and probably also to the bones

Correction to: Investigations of the relics and altar materials relating to the apostles St James and St Philip at the Basilica dei Santi XII Apostoli in Rome

Following publication of the original article [1], the authors identified an error in an author’s name. The incorrect name was: Erika Ribercini. The correct author name is: Erika Ribechini. The author group has been updated above and the original article [1] has been corrected

Release of lead from Renaissance lead-glazed ceramics from southern Denmark and northern Germany: Implications from acetic acid etching

Lead-glazed potsherds from archaeological excavations at six Renaissance (1536–1660 CE) sites in southern Denmark and northern Germany have been subjected to etching experiments using 4 wt% acetic acid. The extracts of 45 sherds were analysed by Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry. At one site, the ducal hunting castle of Grøngaard, Pb levels in acid extracts from glazed dishes were so high (up to 29,000 µg Pb cm−2 day−1) that acute toxic effects likely occurred if the dishes were used for serving food containing vinegar. More moderate acid-etching Pb levels were found in dishes from other sites, but they still exceed the WHO critical level if used daily. Acetic acid etching experiments performed on pipkins (three-legged cooking pots with a handle) yielded somewhat lower Pb extract values, averaging ca. 25 µg Pb cm−2 day−1. Taking into account the widespread use of pipkins for cooking, they might easily have led to a higher weekly Pb intake than the use of the moderate-level dishes. The question remains whether such high levels of Pb exposure during meals led to injurious Pb intake. Prior skeletal analyses have shown that medieval to early modern individuals from the area, especially in towns, were exposed to Pb. While exposure could have come from various sources other than lead-glazed ceramics, such as cosmetics, paint, antibacterial ointments, and lead water pipes, widely distributed lead-glazed ceramics had the potential of being a main source of Pb. How the pottery was actually used is uncertain, and it certainly was not evenly distributed across all segments of society, but the etching experiment results suggest that severe poisonous effects could have resulted from the use of lead-glazed Renaissance ceramics

Investigations of the relics and altar materials relating to the apostles St James and St Philip at the Basilica dei Santi XII Apostoli in Rome

Two types of materials were sampled as part of an investigation of the relics of the Holy Catholic Church of the Apostles St Philip and St James in the Basilica dei Santi Apostoli in Rome: bone‑ and mummy‑materials and architectural samples. The analyses encompassed radiocarbon dating, thermoluminescence dating, gas and liquid chromatographic separation with mass spectrometric detection, X‑Ray fluorescence, X‑Ray diffraction, inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, Raman spectroscopy, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The results show that the samples were subjected to a number of conservational and exhibition‑related treatments. The alleged femoral bone of St James was dated between AD 214 and 340 (2σ confidence), which shows that this cannot be the bone of St James. An encrustation found in a canal in the reliquary in the high altar construction showed the presence of heavily oxidized rapeseed oil, which was radiocarbon dated between AD 267 and 539 (2σ confidence), and a ceramic shard also found in the high altar construction was TL‑dated to AD 314–746 (2σ confidence). The two latter dates are consistent with a translation of the relics following the erection of the church at the time of Pope Pelagius I in AD 556–56