About the Project
POLYCHROME – “The Survival of Damaged Medieval Polychromed Heritage in the Nordics” is the first holistic study, both analytical and historical, to focus on Christian images from the medieval period that were selectively mutilated after the Reformations (1527 in Sweden and 1536 in Denmark-Norway).
Although roughly 3200 painted and gilded (polychromed) wooden sculptures, shrines, frontals, panels and winged altarpieces have survived in the Scandinavian countries, there is no estimate of the number of objects that were selectively mutilated and partially destroyed. It is also not known whether there are distinctly different patterns for damage in Denmark, Sweden, or Norway.
This gap in knowledge has persisted in part because specific attacks were rarely documented during the long process of confessionalization and up to the introduction of heritage protections. Gaps in knowledge also owe much to restorers, who repaired or erased breaks and marks at some point in the past. It can therefore be challenging to distinguish between damage related to targeted violence, and/or damage related to accidents, recycling of materials or unspecific vandalism – all of which might be complicated by repairs and restorations.
POLYCHROME will harness standard imaging technologies from the natural sciences to create the first analytical overview for circa 150 wooden polychromed objects that either are or were partially mutilated. Systematic imaging will rely on portable X-radiography, a Hirox 3D microscope, scanning X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (ELIO), and imaging with structured light.
The resulting data will be managed by a cutting-edge data management system developed by researchers at the ARCHEOVISION platform (University Bordeaux Montaigne). This system facilitates multidisciplinary access to material that will allow the POLYCHROME team to qualify and quantify cuts, breaks, tool marks, repairs and restorations. These data, coupled with a spectrum of archival sources, offer a platform for conservators, scientists, and historians to determine whether damages and losses can be linked to violence, accidents, neglect, or inherent weakness.
Impact
POLYCHROME lays foundations firstly for studies of how images were disempowered because people continued to believe in their potency. Secondly, it lays foundations for textured inter-relational investigations of people and congregations, who retained fragments of religious images. Thirdly, POLYCHROME shines a light on histories of restoration and the significance of restorers, whose repairs now contribute to current uses.
The results furthermore guide dialogues between experienced and emerging heritage researchers. Discussions centre on risk assessment, bias, secularization, and values associated with fragmented medieval material culture. With ongoing demographic changes that continue to weaken local anchors, POLYCHROME promises to connect this category of heritage to a range of religious traditions, which in turn can engender new societal relevance.
As congregations and museum professionals prepare for the 500th anniversaries of the Reformations in Scandinavia, POLYCHROME is clarifying the impacts of Lutheranism and restorations on surviving polychromed objects. The project engages those who determine how wounded and fragile religious heritage is understood, displayed and cared for, now and into the future.
Dissemination
Our beautiful Brill book was published in January 2025: Sacred Medieval Objects and Their Afterlives in Scandinavia, edited by N.L.W. Streeton, T. Frøysaker & P. Bjerregaard (Leiden: Brill, 2025) https://brill.com/display/title/70835. For UiO students and staff, the e-book is available via Oria.
Listen to the podcast "Big New Research Project – Noëlle Streeton on POLYCHROME", recorded in March 2025. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/big-new-research-project-no%C3%ABlle-streeton-on-polychrome/id1439416472?i=1000699130797
Josephine Schnohr of Kristeligt Dagblad was generous in her article about our mission to Maribo in Denmark in June 2026. Her article, "Maribos krucifikser kan fortælle nye historier om Reformationen", is for now behind a paywall but available via libraries.
Recruitment
The Department of Archaeology, Conservation and History at the University of Oslo, and the ARCHEOVISION platform at the University of Bordeaux-Montaigne have recruited talented researchers. We have hired two post-doctoral fellows in Conservation Science with responsibilities for data gathering in a mobile laboratory; and an IT expert embedded with the ARCHEOVISION platform; and two PhD fellows. The POLYCHROME team is complete. Each of us is grateful to the ERC for its generous support.
