Paintings from the 17th century
Kerstin Sinha, Ljusdalsbygdens Museum

Seventeenth century decorations have often turned up when old farms have been renovated in modern times. Such a find was made for example in 1949 on a farm in east Ljusdal: behind many layers of wallpaper from the late 19th century was a whole interior of paintings on linen. Since the weave was of good quality, the paint was leached out and towels were cut from some parts. A few large painted pieces have been preserved, however. One tells the story of King Solomon, perhaps on a lion hunt, while another has a strip of text where a year, probably 1624, can be distinguished, in spite of the fact that a lot of the paint has been soaked away.

The fragment depicted here measures about 175 by 135 cm (ca 70 by 60 inches). On the right of it we see a couple of horses with an elegant rider in a black hat in front of a city wall with a big window in it, through which we can glimpse a palace with towers. Two small dogs lope beneath the rider – or is it a greyhound hunting a lion? The strip of text is almost gone, but one can make out the text "KING SOLO.." in the original.

A doorway leads into the city and in front of it, a couple of horses vanish behind a sturdy column. It has the same function as the frame in modern comic strips, and on the other side of it we can see a few courtiers (?) dressed in the fashions of the late 16th century, with leg-of-mutton sleeves on tailored jackets and bows on their garters below knee-breeches.

Decorations were sometimes painted straight onto the timber of the walls. Centuries later, the timber might be re-used, for example in the two-storey houses of the 19th century. The loft gable pictured below has been built using such old painted logs in a farm in Färila, in north western Hälsingland.

The walls had originally been sealed by stuffing moss or flax between the logs and gluing linen strips over the spaces. When the old house, generations later, was taken down, these strips were removed, and with them the parts of the wall painting that were on them. So today we can only see those parts of the painting which were in the middle of the logs, and the impression is one of disarray.
One detail (on the upper right hand corner of the gable) from the painting which once decorated the festive room of the farm: a couple of serious eyes which gaze down the centuries into our own. On the log below, we can make out the broad lace cuffs which were part of the magnificent costume of the rich men of the 17th century.

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