The Mysterious Fragments of Baptismal Fonts at Sigtuna During the early Middle Ages Sigtuna was one of the most important places in Sweden, the seat of both the monarchy and of a bishop. A number of ruins of architecturally remarkable churches bear testimony to its past glories, and excavations on different sites in the town have revealed the fragments of one or more extremely well-made baptismal fonts (figs. 1-4). Yet another related fragment comes from the ruins of a church just outside the town (fig. 5). The design and ornamentation indicate that they belong to a type of font that was prevalent in Central Sweden during the 12th century. A northern variant can be found in Gavle (fig. 7) with ornamentation which in its basic form is closely related to that of the Sigtuna fragments, but the execution is considerably cruder—none of the fonts which have been preserved can match these in quality. An uncompleted font (fig. 6) suggests that there was once a workshop in Sigtuna, and the superior quality of the fragments that it was this workshop that provided inspiration for the surrounding provinces. There is a great deal that suggests that the font workshop in Sigtuna was functioning during the first half of the 12th century. Before that date there was hardly any sculpture in stone in the area, and the Sigtuna master must be considered a pioneer. Swedish scholars have on the whole considered that he was trained in England and that the stimulus came from there, whereas their English ounterparts have rather pointed to those elements in the fragments which are of purely local origin. No one has yet been able to suggest any completely convincing parallels and one cannot, therefore, disregard the possibility that the fundamental structure of the motifs could have had a completely different back ground. It is in this predicament that I turn to the readers of Konsthistorisk Tidskrift with an appeal for assistance. If there is anyone with knowledge of representations which could throw some new light on the background of the sigtuna fragments, I would be very greateful to hear from him.
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