The Image of Virgin Mary in Words and Art: Praising the Mother of God in Fifteenth-Century Sweden

During the fifteenth century, the cult of Virgin Mary was at its peak in Sweden, as well as all over the Western world. This article discusses the manifestation of the learned cult within Swedish popular culture in this period by analyzing contemporary prayers and art works from Swedish parish churches. The texts and the visual arts are discussed with reference to Speculum Virginum (5th chap.), an important didactic work that was translated from Latin to Old Swedish during the second half of the fifteenth century. It is clear that the arguments found in the popular cult of Virgin Mary are much simpler and more dogmatic, than in the learned cult. Nevertheless themes from the learned cult are frequently used in vernacular prayers and in the visual arts, especially as seen in the praise of Virgin Mary as intercessor. Probably this had something to do with St. Birgitta of Sweden and her revelations that made a strong impact on Swedish late medieval church life.