Elmelunde Master
Encyclopedia
Elmelunde Church
Elmelunde Church, famous for its frescos, is located in the village of Elmelunde, Møn, in southeastern Denmark. It stands high above the surroundings just south of the main road from Stege to the white cliffs of Møn...
, Fanefjord
Fanefjord Church
Fanefjord Church, one of the Danish island of Møn's most famous attractions, is located in an open setting overlooking the Baltic Sea inlet of Fanefjord between Store Damme and Hårbølle. Standing majestically on the top of a small hill, the church's red-tiled roof and whitewashed walls can be seen...
and Keldby
Keldby Church
Keldby Church, famous for its frescoes, is located on the main road to Møns Klint in the village of Keldby, 4 km east of Stege on the Danish island of Møn....
on the island of Møn
Møn
-Location:Møn is located just off the south-eastern tip of Zealand from which it is separated by the waters of the Hølen strait between Kalvehave and the island of Nyord, at the northern end of Møn. Further south is Stege Bugt...
in south-eastern Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
.
The naves of these three churches were furnished with Gothic cross vaults at the end of the 15th century providing an ideal surface for frescoes of the Biblia pauperum
Biblia pauperum
The Biblia pauperum was a tradition of picture Bibles beginning in the later Middle Ages. They sought to portray the historical books of the Bible visually. Unlike a simple "illustrated Bible", where the pictures are subordinated to the text, these Bibles placed the illustration in the centre,...
(or people's bible) based on popular stories from the richly illustrated medieval manuscripts of the Old
Old Testament
The Old Testament, of which Christians hold different views, is a Christian term for the religious writings of ancient Israel held sacred and inspired by Christians which overlaps with the 24-book canon of the Masoretic Text of Judaism...
and New Testament
New Testament
The New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....
s.
The artist can be recognised from his distinctive emblem present in one or more of the frescoes in all three churches. His warm colours ranging from dark red and russet to pastel shades of yellow, green, grey and black are distinctive as are the faces of his figures who all have sleepy eyes whether in scenes of heaven or hell. Vines, flowers and tree branches complete the images.
In the 16th century, following the Reformation
Protestant Reformation
The Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...
, the frescoes were covered with coats of whitewash which hid them from view until quite recently. It was in the 1880s that they were first rediscovered in the church at Elmelunde with the result that the artist became known as the Elmelunde Master. It is however the frescoes in Fanefjord Church
Fanefjord Church
Fanefjord Church, one of the Danish island of Møn's most famous attractions, is located in an open setting overlooking the Baltic Sea inlet of Fanefjord between Store Damme and Hårbølle. Standing majestically on the top of a small hill, the church's red-tiled roof and whitewashed walls can be seen...
uncovered in the 1930s which are considered to be the most interesting and comprehensive.
The Elmelunde Master's school is also credited with the frescoes in churches on the neighbouring island of Falster
Falster
Falster is an island in south-eastern Denmark with an area of 514 km² and 43,398 inhabitants as of 1 January 2010. Located in the Baltic sea, it is part of Region Sjælland and is administered by Guldborgsund Municipality...
at Tingsted, Nørre Alslev, Kettinge and Åstrup.
External links
- Elmelundemesteren from the Insula Moenia site. Retrieved 4 August 2007.
- Elmelundemesterens kirker from the Visit East Demark site (in Danish). Retrieved 4 August 2007.
- Kalkmalerier (i.e. frescoes) from the Elmelunde Church website (in Danish). Retrieved 4 August 2007.
- Tingsted Church site with articles on the frescoes and numerous photographs and explanations (in Danish). Retrieved 4 August 2007.
- Nørre Aslev Church site with images of the Elmelunde Master's work (in Danish). Retrieved 4 August 2007.
And the following images from Fanefjord Church:
- Fresco of the Three Kings from the Dansk Skaansk Forening
- Fresco of Mary with the infant Jesus from the Dansk Skaansk Forening
- Fresco of Eve tempting Adam in the Garden of Eden from Synde.dk
- Fanefjord Church: slideshow from Bierman Consult
Sources
- Pastor Helge Buus: Fanefjord Kirke, Fanefjord menighedsråd, Askeby, 1978, Fanefjord menighedsråd, 19 p.
- Birgit Als Hansen: De Mønske Kirker, Møns Turistforening, Stege, 1967, 11 p. (translated 1976 as The churches of Møn)
- Annett Scavenius: Elmelundemestern i Fanefjord Kirke, Forlaget Vandkunsten, 2010, 121 pages. ISBN 9788776951238.