Medieval wooden sculpture is naturally marked by age and (as is often the case in Sweden) hundreds of years of neglect. They are broken, have lost both most of their color and are placed outside their original framing. In the northern parts, however, this material is at least protected from the problems of wood worms and therefor not full of the characteristic little holes these creatures makes.

Last week Art History and Umeå Group of Premodern Studies had an invited guest, professor Lena Liepe from the University of Oslo. We took the opportunity to make a trip north to Skellefteå and the collection of medieval sculpture in the parish church. This enthroned madonna from c. 1200 is a true master piece, with fine carved details even though it originally was covered with paint. The sculpture is missing the baby Jesus that was sitting frontally towards the spectator in her lap (also quite common among medieval Madonnas in Sweden). The Virgin is a young girl, crowned as the Queen of Heaven, depicted as both the Throne of Wisdom and Mother of Christ. This well preserved majestic madonna alone is worth a visit to Skellefteå!

While you wait for your chance to travel to Skellefteå, you can pop over to a new stunning homepage. Cecilia Lindhé have been working on the homepage for the Imitatio Mariae-project that I am part of, and its is also well worth the visit: http://imitatiomariae.wordpress.com

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