Journal of Art Historiography (Jun 2020)
Interpreting an anomaly: the encounter of Olga Alice Nygren and Carl Axel Nordman with the crowned Saint Anne
Abstract
The article concentrates on two Finnish medievalists, Carl Axel Nordman (1892–1972) and Olga Alice Nygren (1898–1981), and their interpretations of a late-medieval polychrome wood sculpture depicting the crowned Saint Anne with the Virgin and Child. The former was a distinguished scholar and State Antiquarian, whereas the latter was a relatively unnoticed art historian and remains so. Nordman s interpretation relied on the role of the carver master, whereas that of Nygren was based on the cult of St Anne. In addition to drawing scholarly attention to one little-known, but iconographically interesting medieval sculpture, this article sheds light on the subtle mechanisms of exclusion and inclusion which underlie the construction of professional careers in the field of art history.
