Viklaumadonna Hides A Thousands-Year-Old Secret

Ellen Lloyd – AncientPages.com – At first glance, the Viklaumadonna appears to be a merely beautiful ancient sculpture, but she is much more than that. If you didn’t know where to look, you may never even find her thousands-year-old secret that is well hidden.

Left: Viklaumadonna. Credit: Katarina Nimmervoll/Statens historiska museum - Right: An opening in her head. Credit: Statens historiska museum

“Sweden has, in relation to other European countries, a rather large number of medieval wooden sculptures. In the 3000 or so churches in the country there are some 2800 sculptures preserved. To this number are to be added the collections in the Statens Historiska Museum (Museum of national Antiques) in Stockholm and smaller collections in provincial museums.” ¹

One of the most famous Medieval sculptures in Sweden is the Viklaumadonna.

The Viklaumadonna. Credit: Historiska museet, CC BY 2.5

Made of wood, the painted figure was created around 1170. She was named after the Viklau church in Gotland, Sweden where she was discovered. In 1928, the Swedish History Museum (Statens Historiska Museum) bought the figurine, and today you can only find a copy of the curious statue inside the church.

The  Viklaumadonn is unique because she has a small hole on top of her head. The staff at the Swedish Museum have long been aware of this unusual opening in the head. Still, conservators were cautious and unwilling to examine it further, thinking they could accidentally damage the sculpture.

Finally, in 2017 curiosity had to be satisfied, and it was time to find out what was hidden inside the head of the Viklaumadonnan.

When researchers examined what was hidden inside the head, they found this small bag that contained a bone. Credit:  Gabriel Hildebrand/Statens historiska museum

According to Håkan Lindberg, conservator at Statens Historiska Museum, relics in sculptures are usually hidden in the chest, and most Virgin Mary statues do not contain any relics at all.

However, the Viklaumadonna is different. When scientists investigated the opening in her head, they discovered a small bag made of an ordinary fabric. Inside was a tiny bone, and everything had been wrapped with a fine thread.

A small hole was just the beginning of a  much larger discovery. Credit:  Gabriel Hildebrand/Statens historiska museum

Whether the bone belonged to a human or animal is unknown, but it is estimated to be about 3,500 years old.

Why would someone take a small bone and place it inside the head of the statue of the Virgin Mary?

That is a question no-one can answer, but obviously, there must have been a reason.

Pia Bengtsson Melin from the Swedish History Museum says it was a matter of faith. Obviously, our ancestors believed in the powers of the holy relic.

How the Viklaumadonna ended up in the church in Gotland and who carved her is also unknown. One theory is that Cistercian monks brought the sculpture from France to Gotland. It remains a fascinating ancient artifact that shows we will not know everything about our ancestors' beliefs, and there is always more to explore and learn.

Updated on August 10, 2022

Written by Ellen Lloyd – AncientPages.com

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