ABSTRACT
Scandinavian Romanesque architecture displays a wide variety of forms and styles. Yet its place in the history of Romanesque art remains peripheral, and it is difficult to define what exactly is Scandinavian about the Scandinavian Romanesque. This problem is often viewed from the lens of external influence and geography and told from the perspective of the ‘outside in’; Denmark was influenced by Germany, Norway by the British Isles, and Sweden by both, as well as eastern Europe and Byzantium. While stylistic parallels between continental Europe and Scandinavia situate the region’s art in a transregional milieu, such as Lund Cathedral’s Rhenish-Lombardic plan and sculpture, this does not explain why certain styles were adopted and leaves the inhabitants of Scandinavia out of the story. But if the problem is instead viewed from the ‘inside out,’ it becomes clear that 11th- and 12th-century Scandinavian royalty and nobility were instrumental in the foundation and probably in the financing of cathedrals and churches, and they may have consciously adopted certain Romanesque styles as prestige markers to show their capacities as patrons and associate themselves with current artistic trends.
