Images of Outdoor Devotion in Townscapes and Landscapes During the Middle Ages. Some Examples from Sweden, Denmark and Finland

As the article makes evident, in the late Middle Ages, space for devotion was not solely connected to the interior of the church or home but also to everyday settings in the urban and rural landscape. Crosses and devotional images of different kinds were placed outside the cathedral or rural parish church, in the graveyard, on the facades of secular houses, in the woods, at the wayside or on the beach. One question at center of the article is why devotional images were placed outside the church building, in rural and urban landscapes, what that possibly meant to people and how we may understand the function and meaning of these images. The article shows how different actors such as visiting pilgrims, visitors of the town or country side, nobility, burghers and peasants viewed or gazed upon images and how they responded to them through prayers and bodily gestures and positions. The article also shows how these highly visible and accessible public images were regarded as giving blessings, protection and help and through that contributed to people’s devotional life in their own everyday living and working environment.