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ARCHITECTURE.
411
picturesque building, among the details of which especially the well (illustr, p. 77)
is an interesting work of art; also Gripsholm at lake Mälaren (illustr, p. 80) —
a medieval castle reconstructed during the renaissance and enlarged also during
the following centuries; it forms a complex of buildings with an exterior quite
simply made of brick but containing rich and picturesque interiors. Foremost among
the newbuilt castles stands the beautiful Vadstena at lake Vettern (illustr, p. 79).
Unfortunately, the old royal palace of Stockholm — also of medieval origin and
perhaps the grandest work of Swedish renaissance — was destroyed by fire in 1C97.
The first artists of the
renaissance in Sweden were chiefly
Germans and Dutchmen; after them a
Swedish school bv ànd by developed
itself. Distinctive features of the style
are: exteriorly, a simple effect
produced by the bulk and enlivened by
solitary details, amongst which
especially the portals are of a superior
prevalence; and interiorly, a
decorative system, at times magnificent, at
times of unaffected loveliness and often
produced with the simplest means.
The few churches erected during
that period (the end of the sixteenth
century) are imitations of the gothic style.
The wood architecture inherited
from the Middle Ages was further
developed by the renaissance as well as
by later epochs. Its best productions
are the Belfries, often to be seen at
country churches and revealing a
constructive power brought to a high
degree of perfection at the side of
an artless but sensitive formative
power. The same traditions are
noticeable in sundry churches, e. g. that
of Habo in Vestergötland, further in
many peasant houses, especially in
Dalarne, in the »Härbren» or larders
peculiar to that province, in the
so-called Björkvik Fatbur (larder), etc.
The Baroque style has three phases of development in Sweden. The first
covers the beginning of the seventeenth century and forms a somewhat modified
continuation of the renaissance. To this era — that of the early baroque —
belong several handsome country-seats, as for instance Tidö in Uppland and Leckö
at lake Venern, a. o., as well as a number of palaces and houses in the towns,
which at that time displayed a lively structural activity. Characteristic of the
period is also an increased interest in ecclesiastical art, certainly resulting in
sundry reconstructions and new buildings — amongst which ought to be mentioned
the little, abundantly decorated German Church of Stockholm and the magnificent
Church of Kristianstad, erected by Christian IV at a time when that town belonged
to Denmark — but especially in decorative details: portals, sepulchral monuments,
and movables with which old churches were fitted up. — A German trait of
character has often put its stamp on the architecture of that age, especially on
the burghers’ houses, which mostly are architectonically decorated.
Doorway, St. James’ Church, Stockholm.
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