Long-lost relations and new-found distinctions: Redefining Lübeck attributions for three late-medieval fragments from Norwegian churches

A multidisciplinary research group set out to determine how three fragmentary religious objects from Norwegian churches relate to each other. These include a shrine from Bygland church (Agder county), painted wings from Røldal stave church (Vestland county) and an altarpiece from the medieval church at Skjervøy (Troms county). Earlier researchers had linked these objects to Lübeck workshops and based on repeated patterns on the painted wings, to the so-called “Master of the Jegher epitaph”. This chapter clarifies and problematizes these similarities and attributions by focusing on physical and chemical data, as well as historical contextualization. The data suggest chiefly that multiple painters, who had access to common patterns, were responsible for the wing panels, while separate boxmakers and sculptors produced the corpus boxes and other elements. The data and structural features point to a variety of craftspeople, working over quite a long period, probably well beyond the bounds of Lübeck. Although evidence for workshop locations is too ambiguous to interpret, what is clear is that groups of craftspeople met the needs of a Norwegian market that was not bound to north German regulations or patrons.