CreatorUnknown

Place of OriginBergen?

Datec. 1310

DescriptionA painted altar frontal of unparalleled iconography. Eight scenes narrate how the Holy Cross was stolen by the Persians during the seventh century AD and subsequently recaptured by the Byzantine king Heraklius. The Christians are portrayed as Crusaders, conforming to the period when the frontal was painted, shortly after the fall of their last stronghold of Acre. In spite of stylistic similarities to contemporary English painting, the Old Norse inscriptions clearly point at Norwegian origins.

Tagsalter, iconography, crusaders, norse

Dimensions980 mm x 1745 mm

Material/MediumOil and tempera on pine wood

Image LicenseCC BY-NC-ND 3.0

Image Rights Holder© The University Museum of Bergen

Photographic CreditsPhoto: Svein Skare, University Museum of Bergen