”När detta Lijf förgår / Ett Nytt jag igän får”. Daniel Hjulströms målningar i det Grotenfeltska gravkapellet i Jorois, Savolax, Finland

Abstract

“When this Life ends / A new one I will gain”. Daniel Hjulström’s paintings in the Grotenfelt family’s burial chapel in Jorois, Savonia, Finland

Abstract: The article focuses on the Swedish artisan painter Daniel Hjulström (1703–1787) and his decorations in the Grotenfelt family’s burial chapel in Jorois, Northern Savonia (Finland). It was built in the 1770s (possibly in 1776) and its walls and ceiling were painted by Hjulström with a variety of plant motifs combined with quotations from the Bible. Five walls have representations of the four seasons – spring, summer, fall and two winter scenes. The visualisation of the shifts in nature parallels the phases of human life, from birth to adulthood and finally death, all underlined by appropriate Bible quotations. Hjulström also painted the inside of the coffin lid for Georg Johan Grotenfelt (1712–1764) with floral motifs and texts alluding to resurrection and eternal life. The author further explores the painter’s use of illustrations in pietistic, devotional books and their emblematic imagery in other of his works.
The article also discusses the prerequisites and working conditions for artisan painters in Sweden-Finland during the latter part of the 18th century (until 1809 the same country). They were educated within a guild and assigned a variety of works, from the decoration of cupboards and chests for private homes to full-scale church interiors. Hjulström is a case in point. Born and educated in Sweden, he worked there in various churches, for instance the one in Dalby, Värmland, where he painted the gallery balustrade in 1737–1740. In 1747 he moved to Finland and painted altarpieces, ceilings, pulpits and gallery balustrades in various churches, as well as profane objects. From 1762 until 1786 he lived in Jorois, on an estate (Paajala/Örnevik) belonging to his patrons, the family Grotenfelt; the last year of his life he lived in Häyrilä, a nearby village.