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Paintings from the 15th and 16th centuries
Kerstin Sinha, Ljusdalsbygdens Museum
We do not know much about how people decorated their houses in Hälsingland in the Middle Ages, but archives show that painted and woven wall hangings were used in all the Nordic countries. The earliest written evidence of this type of decoration in Hälsingland concerns Delsbo, where a new priest arrived in 1457. Everything he took over from the old one was written down – everything from the farm animals to agricultural and household equipment. Among these was an "Olde Tapestrie". In spite of the fact that it was old – already in 1457 – it was valued at 12 marks, twice the value of a horse and the most expensive item on the inventory list.
We
do not know what that hanging looked like, and we don't even know if it
was woven or painted. From the 16th century, however, painted wall hangings
have been preserved.
Several of these were found during repairs to the Hans-Ersgården farm in Alfta in 1964: over a dozen pieces of painted weave of varying sizes, amounting to about 80 square metres, which had been stitched together and placed inside a ceiling to stop the flax-scrap insulation spilling onto the storey below.
One
of them tells the Biblical story of Esther, a beautiful young Jewess who
was married off to King Ahasverus (Xerxes, d. 485 B.C.) during the imprisonment
of the Jews in Babylon, and who managed to prevent the persecution of
her people. Read more of this lively story in the Old Testament Book of
Esther!
The
painting is not dated, but Esther and her entourage have all been painted
wearing the type of clothing which was in fashion at the Swedish Court
in the late-16th century, with leg-of-mutton sleeves and doublet and hose.
Since the painters were conscientious about detail, the painting can be
dated to that period. If you turn it over, however, you can see that the
weave has been re-used: the back is filled with two decorative patterns,
probably from the late 15th century, apart from in one corner where a
small Adam and Eve have been depicted. 
How all of these 15th-17th century paintings got into the ceiling of a farm in Alfta is a real detective story requiring more and wider research.
That there were many painters in Hälsingland at this time is clear from all the painters' names (below) which Jan Lundell at the Hälsingland Museum has found during years of digging into the history of Hälsingland.
| Old Hälsingland Painters | ||
| Håkon Gullesson Fläcka Enånger 1500 Måns Gadd Näset Hälsingtuna 1556 Mårten Larson Alfta 1558 Sven Larson Fiskeby Hälsingtuna 1565 P Målare Häggesta Bollnäs 1565 Jon Målare Säversta Bollnäs 1565 Lasse Målare Berge Rogsta 1569 Nils Målare Röste Bollnäs 1570 "M O" 1570 Michill Målare Nansta Forsa 1576 Peder Gudmundsson Säversta Bollnäs 1582 Joen Målare Bollnäs 1585 Peer Målare Born Bollnäs 1586 Nils Pedersson Hudiksvall 1592 Olof Siulsson Hudiksvall 1592 Mårten Olofsson Delsbo? 1598 Lasse Målare Ilsbo 1599 Jonn Målare Ölsund Forsa 1599 Jonas Olai? ? 1601 Henrik Målare Hudiksvall 1601 |
Anders Målare Hudiksvall 1610 Gulich Mårtensson Berglock Forsa 16.. Gulich Mårtensson Hudiksall 1604 Henrik Målare Bergsjö 1634 Per Eriksson Forsa? 1652 Anders Målare Delsbo 1650 Måns Målare Söderhamn 1653 Henrik Målare Seffersson Hudiksvall 1690 |
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