Page 16 - Gothic

Frescoes continued to be

used as the main pictorial nar-

rative craft on church walls in

southern Europe as a contin-
uation of early Christian and

Romanesque traditions. An

accident of survival has given
Denmark and Sweden the larg-

est groups of surviving church

wall paintings in the Biblia pau-
perum style, usually extend-

ing up to recently constructed

cross vaults. In both Denmark
and Sweden, they were almost

all covered with limewash after

the Reformation which has pre-

served them, but some have also

remained untouched since their
creation. Among the finest exam-

ples from Denmark are those of

the Elmelunde Master from the

Danish island of Møn who deco-
rated the churches of Fanefjord,

Keldby and Elmelunde. Albertus

Pictor is arguably the most well-

known fresco artist from the peri-
od working in Sweden. Examples

of Swedish churches with well-pre-

served frescos include Tensta,
Gökhem and Anga churches.