At 03:13 PM 2/18/98 +0000, you wrote:
>Dear colleagues,
>
>A question came up at a seminar this morning which no one could answer.
>We were discussing the way in which gothic cathedrals and sculptures were
>painted and realising that we might not have liked their appearance very
>much! The question: when was the practice of painting sulptures and
>facades abandoned, and why?
>
>Best wishes,
>
>Ian Wei
>University of Bristol
>
>
You restrict your question to "gothic cathedrals and sculptures". Every
church during the medieval times was painted. After the Reformation, in
Denmark, the Luthran church continued the practice. It was only the Puritans
in England, and the Pietists in Denmark, who decried the church art as
"papist" or "romanist". In England the Puritans destroyed the religious art
in many churches. In Denmark, they merely covered the wall painting with
whitewash. There are more than 150 churches in present day Denmark with wall
paintings dated 1100-1600.
There are more in Sweden and Norway.
The writer of "Pictor in carmine" dated c.1100 from England called for a
reformation of the church art of his day because too many were for mere
entertainment rather then the purpose of edificatiom.
I can provide further detailed information on the Danish medieval church art
if you are interested.
Sincerely, Jim
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