Árbók Hins íslenzka fornleifafélags - 01.01.1982, Qupperneq 98
102
ÁRBÓK FORNLEIFAFÉLAGSINS
40 Sama Ks. V, 1, A, 12.
41 Sama Ks. V, 1, A, 11.
42 Sama Ks. VI, 1, A, 8.
43 Sama Ks. VI, 1, A, 8.
44 Nina Damsgaard: Sama rit, bilag XXI.
45 Kirknaskrá Matthíasar Þórðarsonar, ópr. í Þjóðminjasafni, sjá Prestbakki, og Nína
Damsgaard, sama rit bls. 76.
Þegar greinin hafði verið sett rifjaðist upp, að altaristaflan í Breiðabólstaðarkirkju í Vestur-
hópi er eftir Anker Lund. Hún er ekki máluð fyrr en 1920 og sýnir Krist þar sem hann blessar
ungu börnin. Samkvæmt kirkjustól Breiðabólstaðarkirkju í Þjóðskjalasafni gáfu nokkrir menn i
söfnuðinum töfluna árið 1920 og kostaði hún um 650 krónur. Tafla þessi er önnur tveggja yngstu
taflna hér á landi eftir málarann, hin er að Felli i Sléttuhlíð, sjá bls. 96.
SUMMARY
This article deals with a Danish painter, Anker Lund, who painted a relatively large number of
altar-pieces for Icelandic churches during the 191*1 and 201^ centuries. It includes a list of his altar-
pieces where one traces as far as possible when and how they were purchased. This study benefits
from an unpublished master’s-thesis on altar-pieces in Denmark in the 191*1 century by Nina
Damsgaard in Vejle, Denmark.
Anker Lund was one of many Danish painters who painted altar-pieces during this period. He
was born in 1840 and died in 1922. He received his education at Kunstakademiet in Copenhagen
and apart from the altar-pieces he painted historical scenes and decorated pottery. Many of his
altar-pieces are replicas of his own as well as of others but that was quite common at that time. In
Iceland there exist at least 23 altar-pieces by him dating from 1885 to 1906, and one was painted
1920, but from almost the same period in Denmark the number is just over 40.
It is known that it was through the National Museum that the first altar-piece was bought for
Ögur church in Northwestern Iceland in 1889. It shows the Resurrection and so do five other
altar-pieces by Lund in Iceland. On four of his altar-pieces the motive is Christ in the garden of
Gethsemane, five show where Christ heals the blind man and three times the motive shows Christ
walking to Emaus together with two apostles. It seems that the authorities, such as the bishop of
lceland, liked the first altar-piece. This can be seen by their number in Iceland which to some
extent also can be explained by the fact that in this period many churches were being repaired or
built anew, and the need for new church-goods thus became more apparent. But that is not the
sole explanation. The motives of Anker Lund’s altar-pieces appealed both to the taste of the
nation and its religious ideas. And they still hold the same appeal today.