Putting Norwegian Church Art Into Its Atlantic Context

“Churches are essential to our understanding of who we are - independent of whether you are a believer or not,” Justin Kroesen says. He is a professor at UiB’s University Museum and studies church art. 

“When we go on a holiday to Italy or France, we all visit old churches. Because they are beautiful, interesting, and usually the oldest buildings around. Their interiors not only show you art, but also how people in the past have dealt with moral issues and with life and death. If you are interested in history, and in the big questions of life, you need to consider the church. It is our oldest and most direct access to the past,” he says.  

A Great Art Collection

Justin Kroesen came to The University of Bergen from the Netherlands about a decade ago. He studied theology and art history at the University of Groningen, where he also received his ph.d.

“I knew of the art collection at the University Museum in Bergen. I first came here to see it in 2007, and I was totally blown away,” he says. 

When Kroesen saw the position as scientific curator offered in Bergen in 2015, he took it as an opportunity to work with one of Europe’s top collections of medieval art. 

“I came here to put Norwegian medieval art into its wider European context,” he says.

A Broader View on Medieval Art

Kroesen wishes to challenge the idea that medieval Europe was full of different and often conflicting cultures.  

He notes that all countries have traditionally asked ‘what art is specifically ours?’

“For example, the Portuguese have studied their art, and the British have mainly looked at themselves as an island. Iceland is far away, so they often feel the odd one out. Norwegians have also tended to stress their remote position. And Spain has traditionally understood itself as a Mediterranean country, which is only party true,” Kroesen says. 

What all these countries have in common is their position on the Atlantic, which has connected them all and shaped a shared outlook. 

“The last Period of Religious Unity in Europe”

Kroesen says that the late medieval period, from the mid-14th Century up until the Reformation in the 16th Century, was the last period of religious unity in Europe.

“After 1537, Norway went its own Lutheran way, together with Denmark. Sweden also became Lutheran, while the English founded their own Anglican church, the Netherlands largely embraced Calvinism, and the Catholic church in France, Spain and Portugal also reformed itself. Everybody went their own way in religious matters,” Kroesen says.

This breakup is reflected in church art.

“Everything in the Bergen collection that dates from after the Reformation is of a lower artistic level. The art may be said to become provincial after the Reformation. This way, the art tells you the story,” he says. 

The adoption of Christianity by the Vikings, five centuries earlier, was a big game changer, according to Kroesen. 

“With this, the conflicts of the early Middle Ages gave way to a much more harmonious, connected, inclusive and united culture – which is the medieval Catholic church,” Kroesen says.

A mass celebrated in a church in Norway followed exactly the same script as in Spain, Portugal and England, Kroesen says. 

“This shared and connected culture becomes tangible in church art more than in any other field. I think this is fascinating,” he says.

A Positive Message

Five years ago, the University Museum took the initiative to an exhibition that included art from medieval Norway and medieval Catalonia. 

“Forms and images are basically the same. I asked a couple of specialists and they couldn’t really tell them apart,” Kroesen says. 

“What does it mean, that we were all interconnected in this way?”

“It means that we have a lot more in common than we think. We, as heirs of the medieval Latin or Western church, may understand each other better than we often think. The eastern border of the European Union is virtually the limit of the church of Rome in the Middle Ages. This, I believe, says a lot. The common ground that we all have built our common culture on is not so much the church itself, but the church created the conditions for it, and it functioned really well. This is what art shows us”.

A Visual Database

Kroesen’s research method is visual. 

“My research data base is my photographic archive. I look for similarities in patterns and designs and study how the materials are put together. Style is a very important indicator, but it is not the only one. Art history has traditionally focused very much on trying to find the hand of masters. I personally do not think that is the most important or interesting question. To me the core question is: How does it reflect its common inspiration?” 

In his previous research he looked at how the furnishings of medieval village churches follow the same patterns everywhere, from Portugal to Sweden.

“I think it is interesting to study the local in churches, but never in an isolated manner. People have called it glocal. That is also what makes my academic career somehow coherent. I have always tried to be glocal,” he says.

A Shared World View

When studying medieval churches, the focus is not on religion or belief, for Kroesen.

 “It is much more about a world view which is shared. In the 12th, 13th century, Norwegian, Portuguese, Icelanders and Dutchmen all adopted the same world view, which lies under the belief system. These are cultural patterns that grow together,” he says.

“There must have been a lot of communication between the countries. How was the knowledge transferred?”

“I think that the medieval church had an astonishing level of organization. The 13th century was really the golden age of medieval Europe. Within 30, 40 years, Gothic forms travelled from Paris to Leon in Spain as well as to Uppsala in Sweden. The Atlantic was a major connector to medieval Europe, together with the River Rhine and the Alpine passes. All of Western Europe grew together in this period. This required a lot of organization and communication –a very high level of interconnectedness, which I think even the European Union today could learn a lot from,” Kroesen says. 

He finds it fascinating, for example, how the Cistercian Order spread all over Europe in the 12th century. 

“They settled at Lysekloster on the west coast of Norway in 1146, very quickly after the order came up in France. The monks crossed the North Sea from Fountains Abbey in Yorkshire and took their own architects with them. I think that is impressive. Any modern international company would be jealous of that model. They may even have been quicker than McDonald’s in the 20th century,” Kroesen says.