Albert målare och inskrifterna

Nilsén A. Albert the painter and the Inscriptions. Albert the painter or, in the latinized form of the name he used when he signed his paintings, Albertus pictor , was one of the foremost church painters of Sweden in the fifteenth century. He is supposed to have been born in the 1440s and probably came to Sweden as a young man from one of the countries south of the Baltic – as did a great many artisans during this period. A few inscriptions with his signature remain as witness of his mastery. Though well known to art historians and, in some cases, many times treated in the art historical literature, these are currently the subject of a study from a linguistic point of view. The known signatures were compiled and published recently by the Latinist Jan O¨berg in Journal of Art History , vol. 73:4, 2004. In the case of Lid Church, Öberg has discovered that the verb of a fragmented text concerning the painter (Fig. 1) should be read as … memento mei … instead of … miserere mei. This reading is quite convincing. Öberg also discusses the insufficient knowledge of Latin that supposedly hampered the writer. The phrase should, according to Öberg, read: … memento mei alberto pictor huius ecclesie. The present author proposes, in comparison with the supposed i of the following word, pictor , a possible reading of the name as alberti instead of alberto , which would considerably ameliorate the grammar of the sentence. However, the argument for this reading, not least considering the condition of the text today, is rather weak. One of Albert's first works in Sweden as an independent master must have been the above-mentioned paintings at Lid Church in Södermanland (Figs 1–3), probably painted in the first half of the 1460s. In the case of Lid we have more information than usual, since Albert has depicted himself (Fig. 1), the donor of the paintings (Fig. 2) and the then rector of the parish (Fig. 3), all with their names on banderoles. Another church with paintings by Albert, on which we have more information than usual, is Kalmar Church in the province of Uppland. Unfortunately the versified inscription includ-ing the mention of the painter, the rector of the church, the governor of Sweden, Sten Sture, and the archbishop at the time, Jakob Ulvsson, is no longer preserved. All but the rector are mentioned in the most flattering terms. The Swedish antiquarian Johan Peringskiöld (1654–1720) saw the inscription and copied it. Thus we know how the verses run. The question, still not answered with certainty, is who their author was. As Öberg points out, their literary quality is above the level that could be expected from an ordinary parish priest, and with some hesitation he suggests the archbishop, Jacob Ulvsson, as the author. However, the only person not eulogized in the text discussed is the rector. He is consequently the most likely author. His name was, according to the inscription, Petrus Johannis. The present author argues that a possible instigator of the verses was the learned master of theology Peder Johansson Galle; his name is also latinized as Petrus Johannis , like that of the rector of Kalmar Church. Peder Galle is mentioned in 1481 as a teacher of theology at Uppsala University, which was founded in 1477 by archbishop Jakob Ulvsson. Galle was to make a handsome career and was at the time of the Reformation archdeacon of Uppsala. It is not impossible that he was the selfsame rector of Kalmar. In 1485, the same year as the verses were written, Galle is supposed to have been the Church's candidate in the competition for the position of rector of the parish church in Stockholm. The authority to appoint the rector of this parish lay with the governor of Sweden, Sten Sture. Thus Galle in 1485 may have had reason to seek the benevolence of both the archbishop and the governor. A most magnificent series of paintings by Albert is to be found in Ha¨rkeberga Church, Uppland. Unfortunately there is no signature preserved here. A picture representing the Mass of St Gregory (Fig. 5), painted in the porch, shows two worshipping persons, one spiritual to the left of the main motif and one secular to the right. It has been suggested that the secular person is a portrait of the painter. However, there is no inscription, nor any pictorial attribute to support this proposal. In all probability, the two worshippers are intended to indicate how the picture was to be used. The picture of Gregory's mass was associated with indulgence. This motif and others of the same kind occur quite frequently among the paintings by Albert, who seems to have favoured the Corpus Christi theme (Figs 5–6).