The Dilemmas of the Medieval Sculptor

What is it about?

Chapter 3 of “Sacred Medieval Objects and Their Afterlives in Scandinavia” centres on Christian sculptors and the tricky nature of the sculptor’s craft. As a matter of tradition, it was problematic for them to create a human likeness with the aim that it could be worshipped. Nevertheless, craftspeople created three-dimensional images of the Virgin, Christ and cherished saints, and especially in the late-medieval period a mark of a sculptor’s skill was an image that could convince a viewer that inanimate sculptural form was somehow imbued with life. Discussion starts with an overview of sources that describe prohibitions on the creation of icons, then turns to theological debates and positions that eventually allowed craftspeople to justify their efforts.

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Photo by Philip Swinburn on Unsplash

Photo by Philip Swinburn on Unsplash

Why is it important?

With special attention to the situation for sculptors in Iceland and Norway, this work considers the stigmas, unavoidable dilemmas and attitudes to image-making, which by the sixteenth century had changed so dramatically that negative associations had all but disappeared.