DOI Artikel:
Svanberg, Jan: The legend of Saint Stanislaus and King Boleslaus on the 12th century font in Tride, Sweden
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.20618#0033
4. King Boleslaus orders the soldier with the axe to carry out the sentence of death on Bishop Stanislaus, who already has a
martyr’s halo. Relief on the basin of the Tryde font
on the broad vertical sides of the basin. In this case
there are four of them, each forming a field between
two pairs of figures. One is the usual representation of
the Lord Enthroned, within a mandorla supported by
two angels, all three figures with long plaited hair (see
ill. 1). He sits on the throne with a book in His left
hand, His right hand raised in the Latin benediction, not
the Orthodox form as on the font at Lóderup by the
same master. And whereas the Lóderup font has the or-
thodox Empty Throne motif (Etimasia) below the Lord
Enthroned, on the Tryde font the corresponding posi-
tion below the basin is filled with a pattern of palmette
foliage, which was often used to symbolize Paradise (ill.
17). The three other reliefs on the basin have been seen
as a coherent representation of three scenes from the
life of one and the same saint. However, two different
theories have been proposed concerning the identity of
the saint and the three reliefs have therefore been inter-
preted differently.
Before presenting the two identifications, the reliefs
themselves should be examined. One shows a corpse
being brought back to life from the grave (ill. 2). The
dead man is raising the lid of his coffin and sitting up,
assisted by another man who is holding one hand un-
der his head and raising the other in benediction. His
miraculous power comes from the right hand of God,
dextra Dei, raised in benediction in the sky above him,
designated as a segment of heaven in the manner cus-
tomary in the period. At the foot of the coffin stand two
individuals whose faces are turned towards each other
in a conversational attitude, the one furthest from us
having his head lowered and his hand against his cheek
in the gesture often used to indicate sorrow in Roman-
esąue art. Both have plaited hair and foot-length robes.
Below this scene on the underside of the basin there is
no relief but instead a cavity to house a stoup.
In what must be the next scene, the revived skel-
eton is led by a bishop towards a collapsing figurę and
a monarch who is raising one hand at the sight of this
miracle (ill. 3). The Bishop is also raising his left hand
while the monarch grasps the Bishop’s crosier with his
right. Like many real crosiers in the Middle Ages, its spi-
ral terminates in a smali snake’s head at the centre. The
bishop’s lacy chasuble and mitrę with its two ribbons
(infulae) are portrayed with eąual care. The monarch is
wearing a special crown with three plaąues, the central
one higher than the other two, and two pendilioes
hanging from the back along his plaited hair. On the
upper part of his body he is wearing a tightly laced,
elegant jerkin with narrow pleats, its sleeves decorated
with a broad patterned border at the shoulder and large
ornamental cuffs. The man collapsing at his feet is
pointing with one hand at the skeleton figurę and
grasping a heap of earth behind him with the other.
The arcs arranged closely like the scales of fish were
also used to designate earth not only on other fonts cre-
ated by “Majestatis” but also, for instance, on the con-
temporary relief in St. Patrokli in Soest of the donation of
29
martyr’s halo. Relief on the basin of the Tryde font
on the broad vertical sides of the basin. In this case
there are four of them, each forming a field between
two pairs of figures. One is the usual representation of
the Lord Enthroned, within a mandorla supported by
two angels, all three figures with long plaited hair (see
ill. 1). He sits on the throne with a book in His left
hand, His right hand raised in the Latin benediction, not
the Orthodox form as on the font at Lóderup by the
same master. And whereas the Lóderup font has the or-
thodox Empty Throne motif (Etimasia) below the Lord
Enthroned, on the Tryde font the corresponding posi-
tion below the basin is filled with a pattern of palmette
foliage, which was often used to symbolize Paradise (ill.
17). The three other reliefs on the basin have been seen
as a coherent representation of three scenes from the
life of one and the same saint. However, two different
theories have been proposed concerning the identity of
the saint and the three reliefs have therefore been inter-
preted differently.
Before presenting the two identifications, the reliefs
themselves should be examined. One shows a corpse
being brought back to life from the grave (ill. 2). The
dead man is raising the lid of his coffin and sitting up,
assisted by another man who is holding one hand un-
der his head and raising the other in benediction. His
miraculous power comes from the right hand of God,
dextra Dei, raised in benediction in the sky above him,
designated as a segment of heaven in the manner cus-
tomary in the period. At the foot of the coffin stand two
individuals whose faces are turned towards each other
in a conversational attitude, the one furthest from us
having his head lowered and his hand against his cheek
in the gesture often used to indicate sorrow in Roman-
esąue art. Both have plaited hair and foot-length robes.
Below this scene on the underside of the basin there is
no relief but instead a cavity to house a stoup.
In what must be the next scene, the revived skel-
eton is led by a bishop towards a collapsing figurę and
a monarch who is raising one hand at the sight of this
miracle (ill. 3). The Bishop is also raising his left hand
while the monarch grasps the Bishop’s crosier with his
right. Like many real crosiers in the Middle Ages, its spi-
ral terminates in a smali snake’s head at the centre. The
bishop’s lacy chasuble and mitrę with its two ribbons
(infulae) are portrayed with eąual care. The monarch is
wearing a special crown with three plaąues, the central
one higher than the other two, and two pendilioes
hanging from the back along his plaited hair. On the
upper part of his body he is wearing a tightly laced,
elegant jerkin with narrow pleats, its sleeves decorated
with a broad patterned border at the shoulder and large
ornamental cuffs. The man collapsing at his feet is
pointing with one hand at the skeleton figurę and
grasping a heap of earth behind him with the other.
The arcs arranged closely like the scales of fish were
also used to designate earth not only on other fonts cre-
ated by “Majestatis” but also, for instance, on the con-
temporary relief in St. Patrokli in Soest of the donation of
29