A pilgrim badge from Karup

Abstract

A pilgrim badge from Karup

In the article an attempt is made at dating a pilgrim badge of Our Lady from Karup (fig. 1), which was discovered in the floor layers of Brejning church (Ringkøbing amt) during restoration in 1960-61, to the end of the 15th century, by means of two other pilgrim badges. One of these (fig. 2) bears an inscription in minuscules: Karop -like the badge from Brejning- and was discovered in the ruined high altar of Karup church during excavation in 1901. The church (fig. 3) is believed to have been consecrated at some date in the 1480s, and, as the badge was probably placed in the high altar on this occasion, it is likely to belong to this decade. There is only a reproduction (fig. 4) of the other badge on a bell cast for Øm monastery in 1490, now in Hesselager church on Funen.

In a postscript it is suggested that a Late Gothic figure from Karup in Viborg Stifts Museum (fig. 5), or a similar standing figure of St. Mary, is the actual Karup Our Lady -and thus the statue which the badges depict- instead of the frequently mentioned "seated" Our Lady described by Pontoppidan (24). Furthermore, attention is drawn to a hitherto overlooked article showing the dubious value in this context of a repeatedly quoted source (25).

Susanne Andersen