1905] The Legendary Eepresentations on the Frontal from Kaupanger. 7 



spread throug-hout the Roman Catholic Church. He was worshipped 

 especially as the patron of sailors and seafarmg men, and stood in 

 high honoiir in North Europe during the Middle Ages. An inter- 

 • esting evidence of this is a statute in the Hanseatie „Statuten der 

 Ripen- und Danemarks Fahrer zu Stade" (14. century), accord- 

 ing to wliich a skipper (captain), unjiistly accused, should swear 

 ,,dat eme God und de sunte Mcolaus also helpen in siner Kopen- 

 schop also he des unscliuldich is, dar de eme schult."') 



Representations of St. Nicholas, in sculpture and in painting,- 

 are often met with in the Scandinavian countries. Of the Scandi- 

 navian monuments, the mural paintings in the church of Aal, Ribe 

 amt, Denmark, are the most important for the iconography of this 

 saint. These paintings are most probably contemporary with the 

 Frontal from Kaupanger, and contain amongst other representations 

 also the legend of the death and resurrection of the three youths. 

 The series of mural paintings at Aal has, according to my opinion, 

 been partly misunderstood by Dr. Jacob Helms, who describes and 

 explains them in his work „Danske Tufstenkirker"; I therefor 

 propose to offer some remarks on their meaning. : 



The first scene in the series in Aal church represents a naked 

 man sitting before a church portal, where a bishop, hending ovef 

 him, is apparently pouring water on his head. This scene Dr. 

 Helms connects with the following legend : A Christian of Cala- 

 bria had borrowed monney from a Jew, swearing on the relics of 

 St. Nicholas to repay him honestly. But he broke his oath, cheated 

 the Jew, and was punished for this by sudden death. The Jew got 

 his money back again after the man's death, and invoked St. 

 Nicholas, who restored the Christian to life. The Jew was con- 

 verted and baptized. — According to Helms, the baptism of this 

 Jew is the subject of the present representation. However, I find 

 it more probable that the scene represents one of the miracles 

 performed personally by the saint. According to another legend. 

 St. Nicholas once met, at the entrance to his church, a blind man 

 who had given away his goods to regain his sight, but all in vain. 

 He was cured by St. Nicholas. The representation forms an ex- 

 cellent illustration of this legend. The man is sitting on the stairs 



1) ,.So b?]p him God and St. Nicholas in his trading- as he is inuocent of 

 Avhat he is accused." 



K. HoHLBAOi: ,.HansJsches Urknndenbuch" III p. 183, cited by Helms. 



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