Artikelen

• De hervormde kerk te Britsum. Een verzwegen kerk onderzocht en gewaardeerd

  The Dutch Reformed church of Britsum is situated at the highest point of the characteristic Frisian terp village Britsum, some 12 kilometres to the north of Leeuwarden. The village of Britsum occurs early on in history as ‘Bruggenheim’ in the property registers of the abbey of Fulda. As the source material of the church is scarce, we will have to rely on research of the building itself tor the reconstruction of its building history.

  The church is of the hall-church type, as customary for Frisian village churches, with as special element the reduced western block, consisting of a tower with flanking adjacent spaces provided with a floor. Research proved that this western block is among the early examples of brick architecture, with a Romanesque detail probably dating from the period l180-1190. The ribless dome vaults of the ground floor were built somewhat later, in the 13th century. Originally. the western block was not vaulted.

  The greater part of the superstructure of the tower was renovated in the 17th and 18th centuries. Traces of older roof connections at the eastern side of the tower indicate that the present nave was preceded by an older (possibly tuff) hall-nave. The present hall-nave, also completely built of brick, with a choir with slightly recessed semicircular apse, is vaulted with early Romanesque-Gothic domes with sturdy round ribs. In each dome the ribs form a mutually divergent pattern. The course of the ribs and the star patterns and circles in the cresting of the vaults are still somewhat clumsily executed, which indicates an early date. Consequently, the type of vault, the construction and the rib patterns show similarities with the vaults of chiefly 13^th century churches in e.g. Groningen and German East Friesland.

  Because of the construction of this vaulted nave the original circular-arched openings in the eastern front of the western block had to be closed. Nave and western block clearly do not belong together. In the northern wall of the nave and the chevet the remainder of the original, small windows with slightly pointed arches became visible.

  Furthermore, under the present wall-arches the cut-off pointed-arch shapes of an older vaulting phase came to light in the nave, directly above the old windows. It is not clear whether the vaults belonging to these arches were actually executed or whether the plans for the final vaulting were changed. The research appears to point to the second option, since the masonry of the nave-walls above the older wall-arches continues undisturbedly. It is quite likely that the hall-nave and choir were executed between 1240 and 1250 and the vaulting around 1260 at the latest.

  The later closed-off, older doorways found in the western bay may still be the original northern and southern doorways, but in view of their protracted circular-arch closings they must at least have been rebuilt (widened). The present, probably 19th-century northern and southern entrance are to the west of these old doorways. In the 15th century large pointed arch windows were applied in the southern wall of the nave and the southern chevet. Possibly this operation was related to the rebuilding of the doorways and the replacement of the first roof by the present oak roof construction dated directly after 1465 by means of dendrochronological research.

  After several smaller renovations in the 17th and 18th centuries a fundamental operation took place in 1875, when the church acquired an entirely new neo-Gothic exterior clamp in smooth red brick with accents in yellow stone. In 1895 the present outfit of the reduced western block and tower in brick (possibly built earlier) appears, varied with plastered details in an eclectic form language. Recently the restoration of the exterior took place (1992-93) and of the interior with paintings.

  The Dutch Reformed church of Britsum is situated at the highest point of the characteristic Frisian terp village Britsum, some 12 kilometres to the north of Leeuwarden. The village of Britsum occurs early on in history as ‘Bruggenheim’ in the property registers of the abbey of Fulda. As the source material of the church is scarce, we will have to rely on research of the building itself tor the reconstruction of its building history.

  The church is of the hall-church type, as customary for Frisian village churches, with as special element the reduced western block, consisting of a tower with flanking adjacent spaces provided with a floor. Research proved that this western block is among the early examples of brick architecture, with a Romanesque detail probably dating from the period l180-1190. The ribless dome vaults of the ground floor were built somewhat later, in the 13th century. Originally. the western block was not vaulted.

  The greater part of the...

  The Dutch Reformed church of Britsum is situated at the highest point of the characteristic Frisian terp village Britsum, some 12 kilometres to the north of Leeuwarden. The village of Britsum occurs early on in history as ‘Bruggenheim’ in the property registers of the abbey of Fulda. As...

  Frank A.C. Haans

  2-25

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• De middeleeuwse schilderingen in de NH Kerk te Britsum

  Between March 1998 and December 1999 decorative and figurative mural and vaultal paintings were exposed and restored in the Dutch Reformed church at Britsum. The decorative paintings were applied on the ribs of the vault, the transverse arches and around the figurative representations.

  They are geometric patterns and some ‘candelabra’. Parallels are to be found in churches in Westphalia painted under Westphalian influence at the end of the twelfth and in the first half of the thirteenth century. So far the figurative paintings only emerged in the zone directly below the vaults, mainly in the choir.

  The only vaultal painting is to be found on the most eastern panel of the vault of the nave and represents Mary with her son in her lap in a mandorla. The scenes in the choir were applied in pairs on an arch panel. They represent a passion cycle: Christ's Prayer on the Mount of Olives, the Betrayal of Judas, the Crowning with thorns and the Whipping.

  More is preserved of the Old-Testament figures in the spandrels of the arch panels: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Mozes, Aaron, Salomo with a viola, David with his harp. Jonathan, Absalom with a vielle and Saul. The iconographic special quality of the musical instruments seems to point to the influence of English Psalter illustrations, notably the Tree of Jesse, where from the late twelfth century onwards the ancestors of Christ are sometimes represented while playing music.

  The Old-Testament figures are probably typologically connected with the passion scenes; particularly the twelfth-century typological writing ‘Dialogus de laudibus sanctae crucis’ gives rise to such an assumption. Stylistic parallels tor the figures are to be found in the moderate ‘Zackenstil’, current in Lower Saxony and the environs of Cologne around the forties of the thirteenth century.

  Unique is the fact that the Crowning with thorns and the Whipping on the eastern wall of the choir form the focus of the cycle. Partly due to the prominent presence of Jews as enemies of the faith, the paintings at Britsum may be a reflection of the Frisian crusaders' enthusiasm in the mid-thirteenth century.

  Between March 1998 and December 1999 decorative and figurative mural and vaultal paintings were exposed and restored in the Dutch Reformed church at Britsum. The decorative paintings were applied on the ribs of the vault, the transverse arches and around the figurative representations.

  They are geometric patterns and some ‘candelabra’. Parallels are to be found in churches in Westphalia painted under Westphalian influence at the end of the twelfth and in the first half of the thirteenth century. So far the figurative paintings only emerged in the zone directly below the vaults, mainly in the choir.

  The only vaultal painting is to be found on the most eastern panel of the vault of the nave and represents Mary with her son in her lap in a mandorla. The scenes in the choir were applied in pairs on an arch panel. They represent a passion cycle: Christ's Prayer on the Mount of Olives, the Betrayal of Judas, the Crowning with thorns and the Whipping.

  More is...

  Between March 1998 and December 1999 decorative and figurative mural and vaultal paintings were exposed and restored in the Dutch Reformed church at Britsum. The decorative paintings were applied on the ribs of the vault, the transverse arches and around the figurative representations.

  ...

  Emanuel S. Klinkenberg

  26-45

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• Technische aspecten van de schilderingen

  On a coat of plastering containing large pieces of broken shells a thick coat of lime was also applied with a brush. Construction lines were scratched in this not quite solidified preparatory coat here and there, probably with a wooden peg, and sometimes lines of charcoal are also visible. The colour blue is absent in the mural paintings, but it is present in the Madonna painting on the vault of the nave. Seventeen samples were taken to analyze the composition of layers and the pigments.

  A range of earth paints were found, but also the synthetic inorganic pigment yellow massicot, which was made by heating white lead. All these pigments belong to the classical palette and were executed in a secco technique probably with a binder containing protein.

  On a coat of plastering containing large pieces of broken shells a thick coat of lime was also applied with a brush. Construction lines were scratched in this not quite solidified preparatory coat here and there, probably with a wooden peg, and sometimes lines of charcoal are also visible. The colour blue is absent in the mural paintings, but it is present in the Madonna painting on the vault of the nave. Seventeen samples were taken to analyze the composition of layers and the pigments.

  A range of earth paints were found, but also the synthetic inorganic pigment yellow massicot, which was made by heating white lead. All these pigments belong to the classical palette and were executed in a secco technique probably with a binder containing protein.

  On a coat of plastering containing large pieces of broken shells a thick coat of lime was also applied with a brush. Construction lines were scratched in this not quite solidified preparatory coat here and there, probably with a wooden peg, and sometimes lines of charcoal are also visible. The...

  Huub J. Kurvers

  46-46

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• Het interieur van de N.H. Kerk te Britsum

  Until its restoration the church at Britsum held two canopied, oak wood Lord's seats: one from the middle of the 17th century belonging to the Burmania family opposite the pulpit from 1667 also donated by this family. Around 1700 the Lord's seat was made for the Van Wyckel family. The original position of this seat is not clear; its transfer is probably connected with its purchase by the church wardens in 1825, when the oak-wood was also painted.

  The seats are in line with the reformational, whitewashed furnishing of the church and are related to the powerful owners of manors no longer existing in the village. The seats also have a spatial relation with the still present tombs and burial vaults and the elaborately-tooled bluestone ledgers, memorizing the renowned residents of the manors, who were also patrons of the church. They are protected pieces of furniture showing the use of the church in the course of a few centuries.

  These elements and the families who donated them are indispensable links between the unknown start of the church in the 13th century and contemporary use under supervision of the Foundation Alde Fryske Tsjerken (Old Frisian Churches).

  Until its restoration the church at Britsum held two canopied, oak wood Lord's seats: one from the middle of the 17th century belonging to the Burmania family opposite the pulpit from 1667 also donated by this family. Around 1700 the Lord's seat was made for the Van Wyckel family. The original position of this seat is not clear; its transfer is probably connected with its purchase by the church wardens in 1825, when the oak-wood was also painted.

  The seats are in line with the reformational, whitewashed furnishing of the church and are related to the powerful owners of manors no longer existing in the village. The seats also have a spatial relation with the still present tombs and burial vaults and the elaborately-tooled bluestone ledgers, memorizing the renowned residents of the manors, who were also patrons of the church. They are protected pieces of furniture showing the use of the church in the course of a few centuries.

  These elements and the families who...

  Until its restoration the church at Britsum held two canopied, oak wood Lord's seats: one from the middle of the 17th century belonging to the Burmania family opposite the pulpit from 1667 also donated by this family. Around 1700 the Lord's seat was made for the Van Wyckel family. The original...

  Frank van der Waard

  47-52

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