Oud-Uppsala met grafheuvels en de stenen van Mora 1668

Adam Perelle created this print, "Oud-Uppsala met grafheuvels en de stenen van Mora," sometime in the late 17th century. It captures two distinct views of Old Uppsala, each laden with historical and cultural significance. In the upper scene, we see the town with its ancient burial mounds, a landscape imbued with the echoes of Sweden's pre-Christian past. These mounds, symbols of ancestral power and pagan beliefs, stand in stark contrast to the Christian church. Below, the Stones of Mora—where Swedish kings were once crowned—lie scattered. This imagery speaks of a transition, a disruption of old traditions giving way to new forms of authority. Perelle, positioned within the visual rhetoric of his time, presents us with a vision of a nation grappling with its identity. What does it mean to build a kingdom on the relics of the past? This print invites us to contemplate the layers of history, belief, and power embedded in the Swedish landscape.