page_title: Vädersolstavlan
section_title: Other buildings and surrounding ridges
hierarchical_section_title: Vädersolstavlan / Medieval Stockholm / Other buildings and surrounding ridges
caption_attribution_description: Skeppsholmen and Kastellholmen in Stockholm, Sweden
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 turret on the right side of the church and the palace was the Blackfriars monastery, inaugurated in 1343 and demolished in 1547.  It was built on the location of the first southern defensive tower, of which no traces have been found. The basement of the monastery, however, can still be seen by Benickebrinken and the school next to Tyska Stallplan.
  During the Middle Ages, there were two harbours west and east of the city's southern square; in the painting they are only suggested by the presence of a mast behind the city. On the western shore at Kornhamn ("Grain Harbour") – today Kornhamnstorg – grain, iron, and other goods from the Lake Mälaren area were delivered. These goods were then weighed in the Våghuset ("The Scales Building", i.e. a weigh house), another important source of income for both the crown and the city, before being transported to the eastern harbour, Kogghamnen ("The Cog Harbour") – today the southern part of Skeppsbron – from which large ships delivered goods across the Baltic Sea.
  In the painting, the Våghuset is the building with stepped gables and iron bars to the right of the Blackfriars monastery facing Järntorget ("Iron Square"). Våghuset was located where the Södra Bankohuset ("Southern [National] Bank Building") is today. Just behind Våghuset there is another stepped gable symbolizing the Klädeshuset ("Broadcloth Building") where goods were stored. The building with stepped gables between the church and the Blackfriars monastery was Själagården ("Soul's Homestead"). It was built in the 15th century at Själagårdsgatan to accommodate the poor and aged but also priests and others serving at the church. During the reign of Gustav Vasa it was transformed into the first royal printing house.
  Between the city and the horizon are several rural islands, which today form part of central Stockholm. Behind the church and the castle is Skeppsholmen, which for centuries served as a base for the Swedish Navy together with Kastellholmen islet, which can be seen above the Blackfriars monastery. To the left of Skeppsholmen are two small islets, which are today merged into the peninsula of Blasieholmen. Behind these islands are Djurgården (right), Östermalm, and Norra Djurgården (left). On the horizon, the Lilla Värtan strait passes in front of Lidingö and, arguably, the interior islands of the Stockholm archipelago.
  Like the islands, the ridges surrounding the city, including the cliffs in the foreground, look very much as they still do. South (right) of the city is the island of Södermalm, where a cluster of buildings (see image of the southern city gate above) lined up along the shore called Tranbodarna were used to burn train oil (e.g. seal lard).  The round building on the eastern end of Södermalm was the gallows hill.  As depicted in the painting, it was used exclusively for men (women were beheaded).  The gallows remained there until the late 17th century when they were moved to present-day Hammarbyhöjden south of the historical city centre.
caption: Skeppsholmen and Kastellholmen today (looking north-east)
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