Le Nord : revue internationale des Pays de Nord - 01.06.1944, Síða 218
196
LE NORD
A characteristic issue of the national spirit of 1905 is the
founding of the General Art Inventory of our churches, “SVE-
RIGES KYRKOR.” After prolonged preparations the first thin
volume of this work was published in 1912. The number of
volumes has now reached 57, each of 100 to 300 pages. The
volumes are gradually collected in tomes, often comprising a
district (hárad), and the tomes are collected in series comprising
provinces (landskap). The object of the work is a scientific and
readable description and a historical survey of the development
of all churches of the country.
At first efforts were chiefly directed towards the village chur-
ches. It might be asked why the cathedrals have not been treated
first. One answer is a reference to the expensiveness of such
undertakings, another that the need is not urgent, as now
descriptions of four cathedrals have been published (although
only of their architecture) outside the scope of SVERIGES KYR-
KOR.2 A treatment of the cathedral of Strángnas, however, is
prepared for publication within SVERIGES KYRKOR. There
is also, however, a particular reason for a temporary preference
of the village churches. They are the best witnesses of Swedish
style. A considerably higher percentage of foreign artistic work
enters in the cathedrals: in Lund Italian, in Linköping English,
in Uppsala French, further in all the three German work. The
peasant churches are more purely Swedish. In addition the
early village churches in the whole of Scandinavia are often
eminent as works of art and significant as historical evidence. The
village churches in Sweden often absorb our interest more than
those elsewhere in Europe because of the inborn æsthetic ambition
of the rural population. Our towns are mostly of late origin and
generally include a strong foreign element. The civilization of
the country is earlier and more genuinely national than the town
civilization. There also were self-esteem and funds enough be-
hind the building of the village churches.
Scandinavia was a country of peasant aristocrats when the
2 O. Rydbeck, Lunds domkyrkas byggnadshistoria. Lund 1923, and Bi-
drag till Luruds domkyrkas byggnadshistoria. Lund 1915. E. Wrangel,
Lunds domkyrkas kcnsthistoria. Lund 1923. Monica Rydbeck, Skanes
stenmastare före 1200. Lund 1936. — A. Lindegren, Mariakyrkan i
Westerds. Stockholm 1898. — Gerda Boethius and Axel L. Romdahl,
Uppsala domkyrka. Uppsala 1935. — Axel L. Romdahl, Linköpings
domkyrka 1232—1498. Göteborg 1932.