Sigraf (also Sighraf, Sighrafr, fl. c.1175–1210) was a Romanesque stone sculptor, working on

Gotland Gotland (, ; ''Gutland'' in Gutnish), also historically spelled Gottland or Gothland (), is Sweden's largest island. It is also a province, county, municipality, and diocese. The province includes the islands of Fårö and Gotska Sandön to th ...

. He was mainly active as a sculptor of

baptismal font A baptismal font is an article of church furniture used for baptism. Aspersion and affusion fonts The fonts of many Christian denominations are for baptisms using a non-immersive method, such as aspersion (sprinkling) or affusion (pouring) ...

s, but also of

reliquaries A reliquary (also referred to as a ''shrine'', by the French term ''châsse'', and historically including ''phylacteries'') is a container for relics. A portable reliquary may be called a ''fereter'', and a chapel in which it is housed a ''fere ...

, carved

pillar A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member ...

s and

relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term '' relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that th ...

s. He was the most productive of several early medieval stone sculptors making baptismal fonts on Gotland.

Works

Unusually, this early medieval master stone sculptor is known by name since he has signed one of the fonts attributed to him (in

Aa Church Aa Church ( da, Aa kirke), located in Aakirkeby on the Danish island of Bornholm, is a Romanesque church dating from the 12th century. It is the parish church of Aaker Parish. History and architecture Aa Church, which literally means "stream chur ...

, on

Bornholm Bornholm () is a Danish island in the Baltic Sea, to the east of the rest of Denmark, south of Sweden, northeast of Germany and north of Poland. Strategically located, Bornholm has been fought over for centuries. It has usually been ruled by ...

island in

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establishe ...

) with

runes Runes are the letters in a set of related alphabets known as runic alphabets native to the Germanic peoples. Runes were used to write various Germanic languages (with some exceptions) before they adopted the Latin alphabet, and for specialised ...

, ''Sighraf Master''. He was active on Gotland island, working in local

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates ...

and making inscriptions in

Old Gutnish Old Gutnish or Old Gotlandic was a North Germanic language spoken on the Baltic island of Gotland. It shows sufficient differences from the Old West Norse and Old East Norse dialects that it is considered to be a separate branch. While vas ...

. The works of his atelier were exported to several places around the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and fr ...

, and he seems to have been the first sculptor of Romanesque fonts on Gotland to focus mainly on export, possibly because his home market was beginning to become satisfied. He was trained locally and his oeuvre displays similarities with earlier stone sculptors from Gotland, e.g. Semi-Byzantios and

Majestatis Majestatis ( la, Magister Majestatis Domini, ''The Master of Christ in Majesty'', usually shortened to Majestatis and sometimes referred to as the Tryde Master, fl. second half of the 12th century) was a Romanesque stone sculptor and the creator o ...

. His style is classical Romanesque with

Norse Norse is a demonym for Norsemen, a medieval North Germanic ethnolinguistic group ancestral to modern Scandinavians, defined as speakers of Old Norse from about the 9th to the 13th centuries. Norse may also refer to: Culture and religion * Nor ...

influences. Sigraf has been identified as the creator of 23 baptismal fonts, including those in Silte, Bro, Eke,

Grötlingbo Grötlingbo is a populated area, a socken (not to be confused with parish), on the Swedish island of Gotland. It comprises the same area as the administrative Grötlingbo District, established on 1January 2016. The Kattlund farm in Grötlingbo ...

, Lau churches, all on Gotland, as well as Hannas and

Hammenhög Hammenhög is a locality situated in Simrishamn Municipality, Skåne County, Sweden with 908 inhabitants in 2010. The village is named after a Bronze-Age grave, the first part of the name, ''Hammen-'', refers to a person named Haming or Hamund, ...

churches,

Scania Scania, also known by its native name of Skåne (, ), is the southernmost of the historical provinces (''landskap'') of Sweden. Located in the south tip of the geographical region of Götaland, the province is roughly conterminous with Skå ...

;

Brunflo Brunflo () is a locality situated in Östersund Municipality, Jämtland County, Sweden with 3,890 inhabitants in 2010. It is situated some 15 km south-east of Östersund Östersund (; sma, Staare) is an urban area (city) in Jämtland in th ...

church, Jämtland; Mo church,

Hälsingland Hälsingland (), sometimes referred to as Helsingia in English, is a historical province or ''landskap'' in central Sweden. It borders Gästrikland, Dalarna, Härjedalen, Medelpad and the Gulf of Bothnia. It is part of the land of Norrland. ...

; Skogs-Tibble and

Knivsta Knivsta is a locality and the seat of Knivsta Municipality, Uppsala County, Sweden with 19,765 inhabitants. Geography The town sits on the Stockholm-Uppsala railway 48 km north from Stockholm and 18 km south from Uppsala, and has a ...

churches,

Uppland Uppland () is a historical province or ' on the eastern coast of Sweden, just north of Stockholm, the capital. It borders Södermanland, Västmanland and Gästrikland. It is also bounded by lake Mälaren and the Baltic Sea. On the small un ...

; Locknevi church,

Småland Småland () is a historical province () in southern Sweden. Småland borders Blekinge, Scania, Halland, Västergötland, Östergötland and the island Öland in the Baltic Sea. The name Småland literally means ''Small Lands''. The Latinized ...

; Tingstad church,

Östergötland Östergötland (; English exonym: East Gothland) is one of the traditional provinces of Sweden (''landskap'' in Swedish) in the south of Sweden. It borders Småland, Västergötland, Närke, Södermanland and the Baltic Sea. In older English ...

;

Mölln, Schleswig-Holstein Mölln () is a town in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is surrounded by several small lakes (Stadtsee, Schulsee, Ziegelsee, Hegesee, Schmalsee, Lütauer See, Drüsensee, and Pinnsee). The Elbe-Lübeck Canal flows through the town. Mölln bel ...

;

St. Bendt's Church, Ringsted St. Bendt's Church (Danish: ''Sankt Bendts Kirke'') is a church in Ringsted, Denmark, which was originally part of a Benedictine monastery that burnt down in the 18th century. Built in the Romanesque architecture, Romanesque style, it is the olde ...

and possibly others.

References

External links

*{{commons category-inline, Master Sigraf Romanesque artists 12th-century sculptors 13th-century sculptors 12th-century Swedish people 13th-century Swedish people

Works

See also

References

External links