Making and Meaning-Making: The Antwerp Altarpiece in Ringsaker (c. 1530) across the Reformation

Abstract

Abstract Antwerp altarpieces produced between c. 1500–1540 could be remarkably similar and have often been regarded as epitomising the shift from bespoke commissions to standardized objects made to be sold on an open market. The only (preserved) Antwerp altarpiece imported to Norway was commissioned by the priest Ansten Jonsson Skonk and put on display in the parish church of Ringsaker shortly before the Reformation was introduced in Denmark-Norway in 1537. Unique in Norway, the altarpiece is of uncommon character even within the larger body of preserved Antwerp pieces. When analysing the many idiosyncrasies of the Ringsaker altarpiece, it comes across as a deliberately versatile product: on the one hand it carefully reflects altarpieces and devotional practices known to Skonk; on the other, it also reflects contemporary religious disputes of northern Europe more broadly, substantiating the claim that (some) Antwerp workshops intentionally created “multi-confessional” artworks – seemingly to suit the patron(s) in question once installed.