Introduction.
The ideas behind the decoration of the Vasa.
About the painting of the sculptures.
The sculptures.
A big surprise for the archaeologists.
After Anders Franzén had localized the Vasa, speculation immediately started as to what could be expected to be found aboard the ship. Seeing as Sweden was a poor nation at the time, scientists were agreed that she was not lavishly decorated. This did not refrain some from claiming that aboard the warship lying on the seabed were vast amounts of treasure. When the task of raising the Vasa had begun, the wreck revealed itself to be very simple and mundane concerning the equipment and provisions she had carried. The officers on board had not lived luxuriously. One of the few valuable objects found was a gold ring. Most of the utilities found on board were made of wood and pottery. Some objects made of tin were found.
In contrast to the simplicity inside the ship, the exterior was found to have been heavily adorned with amazing sculptures. This was a big surprise to the scientists involved. Most of the sculptures were brought to the surface after the Vasa had been raised by divers scanning the mud around the site of the wreckage. All in all, about 500 sculptures were discovered. Several hundred pieces of decorative carpentry were also found. Oak, linden and pine had been used for decoration, oak was the main wood used because of its relative abundancy at the time of the Vasa´s building. Incredibly, traces of gilding were found on some of the sculptures. After 333 years of submergence. The sculptures had originally been painted and in many cases gilded. The Vasa must have been a spectacular sight when she set sail on her maiden voyage.
When the archaeologists began their work of putting together all the items found they faced an immense task. There were no contemporary drawings or reproductions of the Vasa. Instead scientists studied reproductions of other ships from the early 17th century. Of special importance was a copperplate of the french warship Saint Louis. This ship, like the Vasa built by shipbuilders from the dutch school of shipbuilding, was in fact a model for the Vasa. The swedish king Gustav II Adolf was shown a copperplate of the Saint Louis and wanted a similar ship to be built. Only he wanted the ship to be larger, with an additional gun deck. He therefore ordered the shipbuilder to enlarge the Vasa greatly and made the shipbuilders task very difficult. In the end the Vasa turned out to be to top-heavy and her capsizing was inevitable.
The reasons for the decoration of the Vasa.
Why did the shipbuilders bother with decorating the Vasa so extensively ? Many man-hours were spent on this laborious task. A warship like the Vasa had a limited life-span. The average warship of this age was in service for about 20 years. In our practical age one might consider the Vasa´s adornments a waste of time and resources. In order to understand the reasons for so much effort being put into this aspect of shipbuilding and the building of the Vasa, it is necessary to learn a little about the early 17th century and the ideas of that age. The ornamentation of the Vasa is not only intended to impress the observer. People in the early 17th century lived in a time when religion and magic were of much greater importance than today. Decorating ships was essential during the Classical Age, the Viking Age, throughout the Middle-Ages and beyond. Ships were adorned with magical symbols and images of spirits and gods. They wanted to appease the weather gods and to gain advantages over their enemies. Of course these decorations boosted the crew´s moral and were also intended to cause the enemy to fear them. Basic psychology in short.
In the 16th and 17th century religion started losing ground in Europe, and prestige became the main motivation for the ornamention of warships. The reason for this was the Renaissance. The ancient ideas of the Classical Age were focused upon once again, and Man, not God was the central issue.
Politically the Renaissance resulted in the appearance of more powerful Kings, freed from the power of the Catholic Church. Of course the King of Sweden at the time of Vasa´s building was heavily influenced by these new ideas as were his predecessors. With the decoration of the Vasa, Gustav II Adolf wanted to tell the world that he indeed was a Mighty King. He was the strong ruler that Sweden needed to make the country a powerful and wealthy nation in Europe. To a large extent the decoration of the Vasa was propaganda for the king.
The woodcarvers who made all of the sculptures did not work randomly and of their own will in producing the Vasa´s sculptures. They followed a precise plan, a programme of decoration. Who designed this programme? The King and a few learned advisers are responsible for it. When studying the sculptures and the ideas they represent it becomes obvious that a learned humanist lay behind the programme. A few of the King´s old teachers, Johan Skytte and Johan Bureus, are believed to have worked with the decoration plan. They were highly educated and influential, they were also personal friends of the King.
What about the woodcarvers ? They lacked the education to design the programme for Vasa´s ornamentation but were of course skilled artisans. The most productive of the woodcarvers was the german Mårten Redtmer. Another woodcarver, the Dutchmen Johan Thesson, is responsible for many of the sculptures. In their work the woodcarvers used manuals on iconology written by art-theorists when visualizing the programme. For example when one of the woodcarvers wanted to represent an antique mythological motive, he used an illustrated edition of the poem 'Metamorphoses', written by the roman poet Ovidius. Abstract ideals and ideas were represented using either an individual sculpture or a group-arrangement. Most of the sculptures and arrangements glorify the King and Sweden, a glorifying theme. Others were attempts to raise the courage and the moral of the crew, a moralizing theme.
We can take Hercules as an example of the figures found on the Vasa. He is a symbol of courage and strength, at the time of the Vasa he was often used as a symbol of wisdom. Fruits are another example to be found on the Vasa, they are symbols of prosperity. The symbolism of the sculptures is often far more elaborate than these examples though. Another example: Some of the sculptures represent various states of mind and different human natures such as "the sanguine person" or "the melancholic". In several cases the politics of this age are reflected by the sculptures, e.g. sculptures ridiculing the enemy Poland.
The sculptures may be divided into a 'universal group', popular themes throughout northern Europe. Others were specific for the Vasa. This latter group is the main focus of this article. There is more to read about the main sculptures and what they symbolize further down on this page.
The swedish art-scene was influenced by the dutch-german Renaissance style when the Vasa was constructed.This is very much in evidence when studying the ship´s ornamentation. On the main continent, Baroque had become the dominant art-style, but this wasn´t the case yet in Sweden. Typical for the dutch-german style is that it was inspired by Ancient Rome and Greece. There are also germanic elements among the sculptures. Examples of this are the grotesque and burlesque masks which many of the figures stand upon. These are often quite humorous and are rather opposite many of the more stately and lofty sculptures . A large portion of the sculptures were covered with gold leaf. This layer of gold leaf was far thicker than what is normal today and was very expensive.
The sculptured figures of the Vasa may be divided into the following categories:
155 herm pilasters of different sizes and types. 87 warriors and knight figures 74 masks. 71 grotesque figures - human and animal 35 animal figures 10 Putti 8 heraldic sculptures 13 "odd sculptures"
About the painting of the sculptures.
On some of the sculptures retrieved from the seabed one could see traces of gold foil and gilding. Naturally it was assumed that the majority of the sculptures had been gilded. Painting figures in a single color, monochrome, or gilding them, became popular late in the 17th century. It was also believed that the background on which they were placed had been painted blue. New research conducted in the nineties tells a different story. The around 500 sculptures, surprisingly, had been painted in strong gay colors. The background they were placed on had been red, not blue. See image of the aftercastle. The painting is by Göte Göransson.
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| Stefan Evensen, The Vasa museum |
Scientists had suspected that the Vasa's sculptures might have been painted, but back in the sixties they didn't have the means to prove it. As you can see from the images below, these painted sculptures were works of art in their own right. The skill and technique used to paint them is comparable to that of other highly skilled artists of this age. Of course this has radically changed our view on what the Vasa, especially the aftercastle, looked like. The painted figures were much more individually discernible. The figures were painted according to contemporary fashion, combining naturalism with symbolism. An example of this is naturalistically painting the face of a figure with a natural skin color, painting the lips red and even placing rouge on the cheeks! The symbolic aspect would then be to paint hair and eyebrows yellow indicating that the figure is of a divine or mythical stature.
Restorer Peter Tångeberg has with the help of the University of Oslo, been involved in a project aimed at determining the color scheme of the Vasa's sculptures. Between 1990-1999 seventeen sculptures were minutely analyzed using an electron microscope. This work was made difficult due to various deposits on the sculptures. The project will continue and in the end some thirty of the sculptures will have been analyzed.
The sculptures of the Vasa.
On the Stern of the Aftercastle.
The largest concentration of sculptures is found on the aftercastle of the Vasa. The aftercastle, practically a building in its own right, is twenty meters high and is located on the Vasa´s stern. A painting of the stern part of the aftercastle. painted by Göte Göransson. This interesting painting incorporates new research showing how the aftercastle and most of the sculptures were painted. See article above for details.
Use the image to locate the sculptures listed below.
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| Click on the image for the original |
The ship´s stern can be described as the main facade of the Vasa as far as decoration is concerned. The stern is crowned by an arched sculpture, a so-called tafferel, with the figure of a young Gustav Adolf flanked by two griffins holding a royal crown over the young King´s head. The griffin was included in the coat-of-arms of Gustav Adolf´s father, Karl IX. The griffins here represent the old King. The sculpture is a symbol of royal succession. Gustav Adolf is the rightful heir to the Swedish Crown it says. Gustav II Adolf´s cousin Sigismund, king of Poland, claimed that he was the legitimate King of Sweden at this time and that Gustav Adolf was a usurper. Sigismund had been King of Sweden until 1599 when he was overthrown. Note the letters GARS at the bottom with a cherub´s head in their midst. These are the King´s initials in latin. Gustavus Adolphus Rex Sueciae.
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| Click on the image for an enlargement |
Below the arched crown sculpture is the Swedish National Coat-of-Arms. This sculpture is large and very well preserved. The national coat-of-arms is held by two magnificent lions. The lions in turn are surrounded by a drapery. The coat-of-arms itself is a shield with heraldic emblems. Above the shield is a royal crown. The entire sculpture was covered with gold leaf and was painted in some places.
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Further down the stern, below the National Coat-of-Arms, the Coat-of-Arms of the Vasa dynasty is found. A golden sheaf of corn is placed below a royal crown. There are two cherubs, angelic beings, on each side of it. A heavy-folded drapery surrounds the motive. At the ends of the drapery are heavy festoons of fruit. The cherubs each hold an olive branch, an old symbol of peace. The fruits hanging from the drapery represent prosperity, affluence and progress. With this sculpture the King is saying that the Vasa family has brought Sweden peace and prosperity and that the people ultimately have God to thank for this. The Vasa Coat-of-Arms is on the same level as the main cabin.
Many of the sculptured figures on the stern are characters from the Bible and from Greek/Roman mythology. They are characters who were intended to demonstrate the great virtues of Gustav Adolf. Underneath the Vasa Coat-of-Arms is a sculpture of a man playing a harp. The man is clad in Roman armour. This is King David from the Old Testament. King David, portrayed here as an old man, stands as a symbol of wisdom.
Furthest to the port and starboard and on the same row as King David there are two sculptures of Hercules. Among the humanists and artists of the Renaissance Hercules was a popular figure. He was a symbol of strength and courage but also of wisdom and cunning. When Herucules completed his twelve feats he was aided by all of these virtues. At the time, Hercules was used as a moral example that one should follow.
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On the same level as the captain´s cabin, on the upper stern gallery, stands a row of warriors wearing Roman armour. There are more than twenty of them. The row of warriors continues on the sides of the aftercastle and they are also seen on the upper quarter galleries. The soldiers are not only carrying swords but they are equipped with trumpets, horns, torches and lamps. They represent a tale from the Old Testament, the story of Gideon and his soldiers. God gave the Israelites the land of the Midianites. Their land was then attacked by the Midianites. With only 300 men at his side, Gideon, leader of the Israelites, managed to outwit the Midianites. God advised Gideon to attack the enemy at night with only 300 men.
Gideon and his men succeeded and scared the enemy army away by blowing their horns and breaking pitchers that concealed their torches, in the dark, thus appearing suddenly without warning and causing great alarm. This was a tremendous feat because the Midianites greatly outnumbered the 300 Israelites.
The subject here is a leader who vanquishes a superior enemy which outnumbers them, with the help of God. This theme had a special significance for the swedish King, who realized that Sweden would soon intervene in the Thirty Years War. Gustav Adolf was to be a "Gideon of his time" and make Sweden a major power in Europe.
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To each side of the Vasa dynasty´s Coat-of-Arms stands three warriors clad in armour typical of the 17th century. The positioning of these soldiers by the Vasa shield indicates that they are Princely Forefathers of Gustav II Adolf. The soldiers are Gothic Kings. At Gustav Adolf´s time there were many in Sweden who believed that the Swedes descended from the Goths, who broke the Roman Empire. The Gothic King Alarik sacked Rome in 410 A.D. Gustav II Adolf used this idea as propaganda for his person. It was very common for Kings during the Renaissance to claim a splendid ancestry
On the lower stern gallery, encircling the entire aftercastle by continuing on the lower quarter galleries, are a row of Roman soldiers. Most of these sculptures are in poor condition, they were carved from limewood(all but one) which is rather soft. Altogether there are 28 of them, only one is missing. The warriors wear Roman armour of thorax type. The reason for the appearance of the Roman warriors on the Vasa is simply that the motif was popular during the Renaissance.
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| Stefan Evensen- The Vasa museum |
The Quarter Galleries.
Let´s move on to the sides of the ship. The double quarter galleries are decorated with many interesting sculptures. One finds the warriors of Gideon and the Roman warriors here. So-called console heads, many of them quite bizarre, support many of the larger sculptured figures. The console heads are often designed as grotesque heads of eather man or beast. On the upper part of the quarter galleries, male and female figures with fish tails can be seen. They are tritons and nereids, mermaids that is, sons and daughters of Poseidon and Nereus. A picture of a nereid.
Several tower-like constructions, turrets, can be seen on the quarter galleries. Decorating the turrets on the lower quarter galleries are a number of slender herm pilasters. These figures depict herms with various ornamentations below the head. They represent abstract ideas such as the four seasons, human temperaments, and the elements, earth, fire etc. The particular image I have included is probably a representation of water. These figures reflect the interest at the time in astrology and the belief that people could be divided into seperate human temperaments, e.g. "the melancholic".
Also found on the quarter galleries are a number of half-naked men with clubs. They resemble Hercules, but are in fact 'wild men'. They are old symbols of the wilderness of the forest and of untamed nature. Wild men were a popular motif in tapestries from the 14th and 15th century. They symbolize strength, lust and aggression.
The Sides of the Vasa.
Moving forward from the aftercastle we encounter the gunports. They are covered with lion masks and symbolize the fire power of the Vasa. They were meant to raise the moral of the crew and to frighten the enemy. Up on the railing there are a few figures that are half human and half animal, e.g. dolphin, dragon or seal. They represent the seagod Proteus who helped Poseidon and watched over his seal-herds. Proteus had the ability to transform himself into an animal, a plant, a fire, or water. It was Proteus who drove King Menelaus off course when he was returning home from Troy. Why wasn´t Poseidon used instead ? Because Denmark, Sweden´s rival, had already claimed him as "theirs" on their warships.
The Foreship of the Vasa.
Finally we move on to the foreship and the beak-head. The beak-head is a rather large construction, 12 meters in length. Its main purpose is to be a decoration. Later on in the 17th century, beak-heads were built much smaller. There are quite a few sculptures adorning the beak-head of the Vasa.
On the upper part of the bow where the beak-head begins, there is a large warrior clad in Roman armour(see picture of beak-head). Originally there was one on both sides of the ship. The figure on the port side is missing, but it seems to have been similar to its companion. The remaining warrior is a true giant, 2.5 meters high. The mighty and lofty warrior stands on a lion´s head and there is a small dog at his feet. The sculpture has been interpreted as a symbol of a noble and honest character. The dog, standing on the lion´s head, is aggressive yet the lion remains still and is not bothered by it. The lion is willing to spare the inferior dog´s life.
This demonstrates the noble heart of the warrior who will not attack a weaker adversary. The noble qualities of the warrior in turn may be transferred to the king of Sweden, demonstrating his abilities as a leader. At the time, Sweden was at war with Poland and was set to intervene in the Thirty Years War. In front of the warrior is a triton which forms the upper part of a curved beam, four meters long, that supports the beak-head.
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In front of the mighty warriors are two men hiding under a bench. Located on port and starboard, they are mirror images of each other. The two men are quite odd figures, unlike any other sculptures on the Vasa. The men are polish, this is clearly visible from their clothing and their facial features. Why are they hiding beneath the benches and why do they look so fearful ? The two figures refere to a polish punishment practised in Poland at the time of the Vasa. If a man behaved badly or committed a crime he was forced to creep in under a bench and bark like a dog, confessing his ill-doing. The proximity of these hidden men to the 'large noble warriors' suggests that the warrior, i.e. Gustav Adolf, is prepared to spare the unworthy lives of the Poles. A very subtle way of humiliating Poland, the enemy! Also when the crew used the beak-head as a toilet they had a clear view of the crouching Poles.
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On the upper part of the beak-head. and lining both sides of it are a row of Roman Emperors. There are ten on each side bringing their number to a total of twenty. One Emperor is missing. They stand in chronological order starting with Tiberius on the starboard side, furthest forward. They stand on socles with masks which bear an inscription of the Emperor´s name. Gustav II Adolf apparently wished to show himself as an equal of these Emperors, he had descended from their ranks. He also claimed to have forefathers among the Goths, demonstrated by the Gothic warriors on the stern, as you probably remember! An interesting fact is that the famous Roman Emperor Augustus is not included on the Vasa. The reason may well be that Gustav Adolf wanted to be regarded as the first Roman Emperor on the Vasa, a new Augustus. The swedish King wanted to be linked with Augustus who brought peace to the Romans, Pax Romana.
On the lower part of the beak-head. there is a long horizontal frieze which consists of many small sculptures telling a story. The figures are sculpted on both sides and can be regarded from both sides of the ship due to the slimness of the beak-head there. This frieze(see picture of beak-head) tells a story from Greek mythology. The story told is an episode from the myth of Peleus and the goddess Thetis. Peleus attempts to court the goddess Thetis, one of the nereids(a mermaid). Since Peleus is a mere Mortal and Thetis wants to marry a God, she resists him, transforming herself time and again into a number of different animals.
The animals are lions, sea-serpents and other dangerous creatures. She attacks him and tries to kill him. In the end Peleus overcomes her while she is asleep, advised to do so by the seagod Proteus. Thetis yields to Peleus and they are married. The story is intended to teach the crew of the Vasa a lesson regarding the virtues of endurance, hard work and to boldly and without fear engage the enemy.
The last major sculpture on the beak-head is the figurehead formed as a lion. The lion is four meters long weighing 450 kilos. It is set to leap upon its prey, muscles tense. The figurehead is a true masterpiece among the Vasa´s many sculptures. Between its forepaws it holds the Vasa dynasty´s shield which shows a corn shief(in swedish 'vase')covered by a royal crown. The lion is a heraldic symbol of Sweden and the shield with its 'vase' is a symbol of the ship. The figurehead was originally gilded. A picture of the figurehead lion.
The Cabins of the Vasa.
The decks and cabins of the Vasa were also adorned with sculptures. They are generally smaller and more insignificant than those on the ship´s exterior. There are much fewer sculptures in the interior of the ship.
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| Click on the image for an enlargement |
After reconstruction the main cabin of the Vasa showed itself to have the same style of decoration as that of halls and state-rooms of several contemporary castles in Sweden such as Gripsholm and Kalmar. The walls of the main cabin were decorated with panels seperated by herm pilasters. Along the walls there were benches fastened to the walls that were turned into beds at night. Apart from a few sculptured figures and an oramented cupboard the main cabin was rather plain, sparsely furnished with a table and some chairs.
A well preserved cartouche was found that had been in place above the entrance to the main cabin. A cartouche is a scroll-work which was often used during the Renaissance as a frame around an emblem or a shield. The cartouche of the main cabin on the Vasa is an example of Germanic Renaissance-art. Two tritons(male mermaids) can be seen holding a crown-decked cartouche. Two horns containing fruit are visible under the crown, a symbol of prosperity and wealth. The crown here symbolizes the King and tells the viewer that the admiral on board is the King´s chief subordinate on the Vasa.
The Lion from the North.
Let´s bring the story to an end by returning to the stern of the Vasa. Above the rudder there is a figure of a lion that is 1.5 meters high. Curiously, the lion has its back towards us(see picture below). It is standing on a grotesque mask on its hind legs. The lion is looking back over its shoulder to the right. There is more to this small lion than meets the eye. There is hidden symbolism to be discovered. This is an old medieval motif, 'virtue´s triumph over vice', symbolized by the noble lion stamping on the ugly and evil face. This motif was often depicted by a Saint or a canonized King stepping on heathendom. Heathendom was often symbolized by a dragon or a troll. Clearly here Gustav Adolf, the lion, will stamp out heathendom in Europe by defeating Sweden´s enemies.
The sculpture can also be interpreted politically. In feudal Germany a number of prophecies were in circulation during the time of the Vasa. The protestants in northern Germany spoke of a Lion from the North who would come to their aid from northern Europe and save them from the catholics in southern Europe. This prophecy was written down by the Swiss philosopher Paracelsus about one hundred years earlier in the early 16th century. The prophecy was quite old therefore when Gustav Adolf became king of Sweden. Before the building of the Vasa, Denmark´s king was thought of as this 'Lion from the North'. The Danes lost the war against the Emperor(see first page) and after that Gustav Adolf 'took over' the prophecy. It is no wonder that this theme is represented on the Vasa.
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