page_title: Vädersolstavlan
section_title: Southern city gate
hierarchical_section_title: Vädersolstavlan / Medieval Stockholm / Southern city gate
caption_attribution_description: Copperplate of w:Slussen, Stockholm. Produced in the 1560s by Frantz Hogenberg.
context_page_description: Vädersolstavlan is an oil-on-panel painting depicting a halo display, an atmospheric optical phenomenon, observed over Stockholm on 20 April 1535. It is named after the sun dogs appearing on the upper right part of the painting. While chiefly noted for being the oldest depiction of Stockholm in colour, it is arguably also the oldest Swedish landscape painting and the oldest depiction of sun dogs.
  The original painting, which was produced shortly after the event and traditionally attributed to Urban målare, is lost, and virtually nothing is known about it. However, a copy from 1636 by Jacob Heinrich Elbfas held in Storkyrkan in Stockholm is believed to be an accurate copy and was until recently erroneously thought to be the restored original. It was previously covered by layers of brownish varnish, and the image was hardly discernible until carefully restored and thoroughly documented in 1998–1999.
  The painting was produced during an important time in Swedish history. The establishment of modern Sweden coincided with the introduction of Protestantism and the break-up with Denmark and the Kalmar Union.
context_section_description: The two defensive towers of the southern city gate appearing in the left foreground, are known to be much older than the painting but their history remains poorly documented.  The outer tower (Yttre Söderport) was built on an artificial island in the strait and was rebuilt in front of an expected attack by King Christian II of Denmark in the late 1520s.  In Blodbadstavlan ("The Bloodbath Painting"), an image ten years older than Vädersolstavlan, it appears with a cone-shaped roof seriously damaged during the Danish assault.  In Vädersolstavlan, the inner tower (Inre Söderport) is similar to the exterior tower, and both structures, together with the narrow bridge between them, match other historical sources. Additions younger than the 1530s, such as the reinforcements ordered by Gustav Vasa during the 1540s, are missing in the painting but present in engravings from 1560 to 1580, which confirms Vädersolstavlan is a credible contemporary document.
  Where the southern city gates were, is today the Slussen area.  The sluice and the locks of Karl Johanslussen had to be rebuilt regularly, and the appearance of the city's southern approach changed constantly.  In the early 1930s, when a multi-story concrete roundabout replaced everything else in the area, the foundations of the outer defensive tower were discovered (known as Gustav Vasas rondell) and remains of the southern defensive structures can still be found below the present squares in the area.
caption: Detail from an engraving showing the area in the 1560s. Note the wall between the towers added in the 1540s and absent in the painting.
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