Devil on the Wall is about to Fade Out

Murals in Rorby Kirke (Zealand) have not been taken care of for thirty years. The specialists find their condition disastrous.

 

The church has seen a lot in its time: thunderbolt, windstorm damages, and fungi. But while the whitewashed building still overlooks the Kalundborg outskirts, the unique cultural heritage inside the church is in an absolutely different situation.

The thing is that in the two vaults of the church there are outstanding murals painted by the best Nordic artists of the 15th century. The murals in the one of the vaults have not been protected against damage for 30 years now.

"We are talking about a terrible and catastrophic destruction of unique mural masterpieces once found under layer of whitening. Salt can kill them totally," thinks Peder Boellingtoft, Head of Monumental Art Department at School of Conservation.

This is exactly the reason why the Augustinus Fonden allocated 5 million Danish kroner for the new project aimed at saving the murals from destruction.

In order to prevent decay of the masterpieces, already now works are being carried out jointly by the National Museum, restoration company Nordisk Konservering, and Technical University of Denmark (DTU). It is also planned to try a new electrochemical method of salt removal, which is still under development.

The devil has already put his print on one of the walls; and actually literally. One of the murals depicts him dragging a creature by its hind limbs; the creature can hardly be seen. The other mural shows the devil holding a book, though this picture has almost faded out, too.

"However, everything that can still be saved, has to be saved; indeed, we are talking about one of the most unique masterpieces of the golden age of medieval art," Boellingtoft says.

Salt residue is endangering the Rorby images. The restorer believes the reason for what is going on is that the church does not have financial resources, and that there is no understanding the murals are very fragile either.

"These murals were found in the early 80s. All these years they have not been protected against external exposure; while the heating has been on full blast for people’s comfort. For decades heating has been considered to be more important issue than the world cultural heritage preservation. Though the issue could have been easily solved long ago, it is just about lowering the temperature and keeping your coat on." Moreover, in December 1999 a severe windstorm tore the church roof off, and the room flooded; which resulted in the sensational find of the 80s being now endangered.

When in 2000 the National Museum raised the alarm on the overall condition of Danish churches, Birthe Roenn Hornbech, who was at the time the Chairman of the Ecclesiastical Affairs Committee in the Folketing, did not react at all.

What is more, it is separate parochial church councils which are in charge of the murals preservation. However, they are unlikely to get those millions needed for financing of such projects.

Along with his predecessor, the current Minister for Ecclesiastical Affairs, Manu Sareen, believes that the murals issue should be taken care of by the parochial church councils.

“It is a great responsibility to work in a parochial church council, for one of the goals is the cultural heritage preservation. This is the way it should be in future as well. But it is very important to get the right people in.”

Sareen believes the problem should be paid attention to by the deanery, where they discuss solutions made by the parochial church councils.

"If the councils cannot work something out, it should not be left aside," Sareen thinks.

New Chairman of the Ecclesiastical Affairs Committee in the Folketing Karen J. Klint admits that the Government faces a dilemma whether to make a favorable temperature for the church people or to try to preserve the cultural heritage. “In my personal opinion, churches exist to be used by people. What is often used, normally wears out. Church is no exception,” Klint says.

The Chairman is afraid that lowering of temperature can make people go to church less frequently. "I am calling on the National Museum and other cultural institutions to try to find a solution without lowering temperature. Churches should not stand empty."

The restoration works carried out at the Rorby church are to be completed next autumn. In one of its vaults you can see some of the murals; whereas numerous layers of whitening in the other one still cover unknown masterpieces of art.