The oldest paintings

The earliest written evidence of wall hangings comes from 1457, but parts of painted hangings from the 1500s have been preserved.

Several hangings were found, for example, during repair work in 1964 at the Hans-Ers farmhouse in Alfta. There were approximately 80 square meters of fabric placed as a foundation in an interior ceiling to prevent the insulation from falling into the floor below.

The painting tells the Biblical story of Esther, a beautiful young Jewish woman who, during the captivity of the Jews in Babylon, was married off to King Ahasverus (Xerxes, died 485 BCE) and succeeded in preventing the persecution of her people. The painting is undated, but Ester and her retinue have all been painted in clothing that was in high fashion at the Swedish court at the end of the 1500s, with puffed sleeves and pluderhosen. If it is turned over, however, you can see that the fabric had been reused; the back side is filled with decorative patterns probably from the late 1400s.

They also painted directly on the wood of the walls. Centuries later, the wood would be reused, and old painted logs can be found, for example, in the gables of an attic.

There seems to have been a good demand for painters as far back as the 1500s and 1600s. Documents of the period mention a great number of people named as painters residing in Hälsingland. From the mid-1700s, we know not only the names of several painters but can also link them to various paintings: “Snickarmålar’n” Erik Eriksson (1730–1800) from Snickars in Källeräng, in the municipality of Delsbo, and Gustaf Reuter (1699–1783), the famous painter and corporal from the Delsbo Company.