Ancient Wooden Church, Borgund, Norway
Henry Rosling
British
c. 1865
A mid-19th-century albumen silver print by Henry Rosling made to document and romanticize the medieval wooden stave church at Borgund, recording its distinctive form for antiquarian and touristic audiences.
The eye is caught by the church’s layered, steeply pitched roofs and dragon‑head finials—a dark timber silhouette set against soft, distant mountains and a low stone wall that gives the scene a quiet, solitary stillness.
As an early architectural photograph, it helped disseminate knowledge and appreciation of vernacular Scandinavian medieval architecture across Europe, feeding scholarly preservation efforts and the Romantic taste for the picturesque.
Medium
Albumen silver print
Dimensions
6 1/2 × 8" (16.5 × 20.3 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
Anonymous gift
Accession
693.1976
Palette
Exhibitions
