De medeltida målningarna i Arbrå kyrka : en typologisk tolkning

The aim of this essay is to investigate the murals in the church of Arbrå, what they portrait and how they can be linked to medieval typology as described in Biblia Pauperum (BP), the Poor Man’s Bible. The aim is also to find out what the purpose was to paint medieval churches and what the function of the paintings was. Arbrå Church was painted around 1520-1530, and almost all of the motifs from the Old Testament can be directly traced back to BP as can one motif from the New Testament. Together these paintings represent most of the important events which make out the foundation of the Christian Cult. The purpose of painting churches was probably a combination of at least three; People of wealth could pay for different things for their church as a tribute to God, the paintings made people feel closer to God as they became enclosed in the biblical history and the paintings served an educative purpose as people could more easily remember what the priests preached