Magnusstenen 1897 - 1898

Curator: Magnus Stones, a relief carving made by Niels Skovgaard around 1897. It resides here at the SMK, the National Gallery of Denmark. Editor: It has such a strange presence, like an ancient artifact unearthed yesterday. The ochre surface and the shallow carving give it a rough, tactile quality, reminiscent of raw earth. Curator: It is a truly strange, yet beautiful artifact! As the name suggests, this relief depicts episodes from the life of St. Magnus, the patron saint of the Orkney Islands, from Norse sagas. Editor: Ah, now that I know, it brings a lot of new possibilities and associations to me. I think I’m seeing patterns now that I wouldn’t have otherwise. Can you decode some of them? The birds on top? Curator: The birds could be read as symbols of spiritual ascension or perhaps messengers between realms. It also calls to mind the old Scandinavian legends in its treatment of heroism. Skovgaard integrates landscape and figure into one unified form. Editor: Integrated they certainly are. I see a kind of deliberate primitivism at play in the figures and patterns; and yet it all works towards a larger visual harmony in spite of that—it almost feels...archaic. Curator: Exactly! The artist's style invokes this idea that folklore and faith are so ancient. The entire block is carved with a shallow depth which heightens the symbolic language present in a traditional icon, but with a modern twist. Editor: Thinking about its modernist aspect is also striking to me now. This piece blends so much and makes me rethink what makes something look old. Thanks for all of these connections! Curator: My pleasure. Looking at Magnus Stones invites us to re-evaluate our relationship with our cultural memories that may even reshape our present.