TAMDRUP KIRKE - Nationalmuseet

middle of this we see small traces of the Last Supper,
then what appears to be the Washing of the
Feet and the Agony in the Garden (fig. 57). The
pictures are slightly better preserved in the north
(cf. fig. 58ff.). Here, between the two westernmost
windows, there is a cross­bearing scene where Simon
of Cyrene seems to be carrying the small
cross in front, after an Ottonian model, while Jesus
is led forth by Jews with characteristic curly
hair and Jewish hats (figs. 59­60). This scene is followed
in the middle of the north wall by a Crucifixion
scene (figs. 61­62), showing small men
hammering on the Cross, and at the same time
Longinus with the lance and a figure who must
be Stephaton. Farther to the east one glimpses
traces of the Deposition and farthest east the Entombment.
Here one notes in particular a rich
architectural border which again recalls Ottonian
art, as well as what appears to be Jesus lying at
the bottom swathed in crossed linen bands (figs.
63­64). Finally, we now see only a fragment of architecture
northernmost on the east wall where
the frieze must have culminated above the chancel
arch. Here there was apparently room for two
scenes flanking the present arcade opening (fig.
56), which may have contained the focus of the
painted frieze in the form of some sort of sculpture
(the Ascension?). Finally it should be mentioned
that in 2002 a †fragment was found on the
north wall of the chancel (fig. 52) probably representing
the birth of St. John the Baptist (to be
compared with a corresponding scene in Jelling).
The fragment will probably be covered again.
The technique of the paintings must be designated
al secco, since the yellowish and rather
uneven grounding has had time to dry before
the actual painting work was done. This began
with a preliminary outlining and pointing­up of
contours. Identifiable colours are dark and light
ochre, yellow, white, green and minium red. In
the chancel arch one can make out a green background
colour, and on the nave walls the background
consists of whitewash. The decorations
are by the same workshop as the murals in †Jelling,
Ørridslev, Vrigsted and perhaps the older
St. Nikolaj Cathedral in Århus. Stylistically the
representations derive from Ottonian, especially
TAMDRUP CHURCH
5173
Late Ottonian art of the kind that can be seen in
Cologne illuminations from the second half of the
eleventh century, and which is known from contemporary
†murals in Xanten and Hildesheim.
The Jutland painting’s oddly ‘bundled’ drapery
might further indicate knowledge of the goldsmith
Roger von Helmarshausen’s works from
the time around 1100, which would accord excellently
with the dendrochronological dating of
Tamdrup Church to c. 1125.
2) The later murals, from 1500-20, are only preserved
in the chancel. The vaulting here has a series
of representations of the story of Adam and
Eve. From the northern cell’s Admonition of Adam
and Eve, only God the Father is preserved
(fig. 66). In the east one can make out the Tree of
Knowledge and traces of the Fall; the south cell
has a well preserved picture of the Expulsion (fig.
67), and in the west cell a toiling Eve is preserved
(fig. 65). Finally, high on the east wall, covered
by the altarpiece, are the remains of a St. Peter
and the arms of Bishop Niels Clausen Skade
(1490­1520). The decoration, which exhibits dependence
on the paintings in Århus Cathedral,
can be attributed to the so­called Åle workshop,
which was also active in the nearby churches in
Åle, Skanderup, Østbirk and perhaps Stilling.
*(†)GOLDEN ALTAR. The golden altar of the
church, from c. 1200, is only partially preserved,
but would have corresponded to similar magnificent
altars from other Jutland churches such
as Lisbjerg, Odder, Sahl, Stadil and Kværn. The
main parts preserved are the actual embossed and
gilded copper panels, which are practically all severely
trimmed as a result of secondary use as ornamentation
on the pulpit in 1600­1625. After
being identified there in 1870 the panels were
sent in 1873 to the National Museum, where
they were repaired in 1896­97.
Of the total of 29 panels, a large quatrefoilformed
one with Christ in Majesty and four
smaller related panels with the symbols of the
evangelists form the central section of a frontal
or antependium. The other 17 panels, with subjects
from the infancy and passion of Christ, measured
at least 20.1×17.9 cm, and the frontal can be re­