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Gotlandic Picture Stones - The Online Edition

GP 97 Garda kyrka I









PARTS

mer grejer





Measured length
0.0
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Parish Find Location ⓘ
Garda

Find Location ⓘ
Incorporated into the tower of Garda (Garde) church.

Find Context Classification ⓘ
Church

Coordinate Find Location (lat) ⓘ
6358371

Coordinate Find Location (long) ⓘ
715673

Parish Present Location ⓘ
Garda

Present Location ⓘ
In situ

Present Location Classification ⓘ
Church
In-Loco

Coordinate Present Location (lat) ⓘ
6358371

Coordinate Present Location (long) ⓘ
715673

Material
Limestone

Height ⓘ
150

Width ⓘ
60

Thickness ⓘ
14

Lindqvist Type 

Lindqvist Shape 

Iconographic Keywords
 ⓘ       

Runic Inscription or not ⓘ
No

Context and Discovery ⓘ
The two picture stone fragments Garda kyrka I and GP 98 Garda kyrka II, which appear to originate from one and the same monument, are incorporated into the wall of Garda (today also ʻGardeʼ) church’s bell tower (Lindqvist 1941/42 II, p. 46; Svahnström 1972, p. 332). The stones form the lintels for the lowest sound hatches on the south and west sides of the tower, respectively. Both stones are integrated in the wall at equal height, with their decorated sides facing downwards. The fragments were first recognised in the church and reported to Gotlands Museum by E. Lundmark in 1914 (ATA Go Garde sn: Kyrkan –1949). The only available photos of the stones and their difficult location were taken by E. Edle in 1919 (ATA Run- och bildstenssamling).

Four more picture stone fragments, GP 99–102 Garda kyrka 3–6, were discovered under the floor of the nave by Gustav Trotzig during archaeological excavations in 1968 (Trotzig 1970). A further picture stone, GP 95 Garda kyrka 7, was found by B. Böttger-Niedenzu in 1984, incorporated into the 14th century lychgate. Garda church is regarded as one of the oldest churches of Gotland (Lagerlöf 1972; Lagerlöf/Svahnström 1991, pp. 142–144; Andrén 2011, pp. 199–201). As early as around AD 1100, there was a wooden church at the same place. This Viking Age church was replaced by an early Romanesque building by the middle of the 12th century, the nave and the lower part of the tower of which are still preserved. In the middle of the 13th century, the tower was built up to its present height; in the first half of the 14th century, the Romanesque choir and apse were demolished and replaced by the current large Gothic choir. Among the church’s most remarkable features are the Russo-Byzantine wall paintings on the tower arch and in the nave.
GP 98 Garda kyrka II
GP 99 Garda kyrka 3
GP0100
GP0101
GP0102
GP 95 Garda kyrka 7

Measurements, Material and Condition ⓘ
The limestone slab is 14 cm thick, and its obverse is relatively flat. As the stone is incorporated into the masonry, no observations can be made regarding the narrow sides and the reverse. The currently visible part of the fragment is circa 1.50 x 0.60 m. The well-preserved decoration is executed by the chiseling of the background fields, which are slightly more than 2 mm deep (Lindqvist 1941/42 II, p. 46). The relief is remarkably clear. Since the sail of a large ship and an image panel above it are preserved, the slab appears to represent a piece from the lower part of a tall picture stone. Since both fragments, Garda kyrka I and GP 98 Garda kyrka II, are quite similar regarding the nature of the material, colour, and preservation, Lindqvist (ibid.) regards them as originating from one and the same picture stone.
GP 98 Garda kyrka II

Description of Ornament and Images ⓘ
Lindqvist (1941/42 II, fig. 351) reproduces a drawing made by Olof Sörling; photos taken by E. Edle in 1919 with the carvings traced with white chalk by F. Nordin are kept in ATA. The visible part of the slab shows in the upper panel a backwards-looking four-legged animal in the left corner and two men to its right. The first is almost completely preserved and raises his hands, performing a gesture of adoration, while the second human figure is incomplete and vague. A fragment of an edge border with interlace decoration can be seen to the left of the upper image panel. The field below, which represents the larger part of the fragment, is incomplete and covered by a checked sail on a mast with one (to the left of the mast) and two (to the right of the mast) stays as well as some further indistinct parts of the rigging. The sail’s pattern is formed by alternatingly carved and raised squares.

Interpretation of the Imagery ⓘ
As the human figure in the middle of the upper panel appears to represent an adorant, the entire scene could be interpreted as depicting a religious ceremony. The backwards-looking animal could be interpreted in this direction as well – on the late-type picture stone GP 59 Buttle Änge V, a horse-like animal in the same posture is depicted, apparently offering its throat to a man who is raising his sword. Lindqvist interprets this scene as an animal sacrifice and the backwards-looking head of the animal as a specific gesture of sacrificial iconography (Lindqvist 1964, p. 67). This may also be the case with Garda kyrka I (Althaus 1993, p. 193). The topic of horse fights and horse sacrifice in the iconography of the (early) Gotland picture stones has often been discussed, see GP 198 Hellvi Ire 7 and the following literature: Gjessing 1943, pp. 29–30; Lindqvst 1955, pp. 41–43; Ellmers 1970, pp. 243–245; Lamm/Nylén 2003, p. 26; Althaus 1993, pp. 87–89, 192–193; Lamm 1999; Beck 2003, pp. 96–97; Guber 2011, pp. 55–56; Pesch 2015a, p. 357; Oehrl 2019a, pp. 62–63.
GP0059
GP 198 Hellvi Ire 7

Type and Dating ⓘ
Tall late-type picture stone, Type C/D according to Lindqvist’s typology. Lindqvist (1941/42 I, p. 50) himself assigns it to his ʻAbschnittʼ D, without giving any reasons. The monuments of ʻAbschnittʼ C are dated by Lindqvist to the time around AD 700, the small group of Type D stones, which, however, must be regarded as a subgroup of C rather than a separate type, which he dates to the middle or the second half of the 8th century. According to recent research, however, those Type C/D picture stones can only be roughly dated to between the 8th and the 10th centuries.

References ⓘ
Lindqvist 1941/42 I, p. 50; II, p. 46, fig. 351; Althaus 1993, p. 193.

 ⓘ
Fyndplats
Bildstenen är inmurad i tornet på Garda kyrka, och rapporterades första gången 1914.

Nuvarande lokalisering
Fortfarande inmurad i tornet.

Beskrivning
Fragment av en stor svampformad bildsten (period C-D), vilken troligen hänger samman med ett annat fragment, GP 98 Garda kyrka II. Det bevarade fragmentet 150 x 60 cm. Väl bevarade bilder i två fält. I det undre fältet segel och mast till ett stort skepp och i det övre fältet ett bakåtblickande djur och två män, varav den ene har händerna resta i ett slags tillbedjan.

Datering
Kan inte dateras med säkerhet, tillhör perioden 700-900-talen.

Tolkning
Det övre fältet kan möjligen föreställa ett offer.

AA
GP 98 Garda kyrka II

Title
GP 97 Garda kyrka I

RAÄ ID ⓘ
Garde 124:4

Jan Peder Lamm ID
63a

Lindqvist Title ⓘ
Garda, Kirche I


Last modifed Jun 25, 2024

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Developer Data
Identifier: GP0097-3D
ID: 4630
3D-model
Part 1 depth:https://gotlandicpicturestones.se/files/original/9653fe2b07228fc585f840d843477ea64765cfea.nxz
Part 1 RGB:https://gotlandicpicturestones.se/files/original/2c5d50d5fdb1c371a2b178d98720ba10d7fa0860.nxz