Røst church was built in 1899 and was consecrated in 1900, originally as an annex church of Værøy. The church is a long church in timber and seats 285. The interior is in the art nouveau style, the interior being in the colours of the time. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Røst_Church

Reredos

The reredos was made in the northern Nederland, probably Utrecht, somewhere between 1511 and 1520. It is part of the so-called 'Lekagruppen' collection of reredos, which are found in churches in Ørsta, Grip, Leka, Hadsel and Røst.

There is a legend of unknown origin about the reredos. On 15 July 1515 the 14 year old princess Isabella of Burgundy/Habsburg, later Elisabeth, embarked on a journey to Copenhagen where she was to marry the Danish-Norwegian King Kristian 2. Accompanying her on the journey was the Archbishop of Nidaros, Erik Valkendorf, her priest and pastor. During the journey they encountered terrible weather and the princess became very unwell and afraid. She sent a message to the Archbishop, promising to bestow a gift upon her new country if they arrived safely. The gift was five reredoses. Archbishop Valkendorf chose five churches in his diocese, which extended from Sunnmøre to Finnmark, to receive the reredos.

The centre section of the reredos

The reredos was originally gilded with small gold plates which were tacked in place. The tack marks can still be seen today.

The sculptures

In the middle is Saint Olav. He is the most popular Norwegian saint and is found on almost all reredoses in Norway from the period.

On each side stands a bishop. It is a little uncertain who they are, possibly Bishop Nikolaus, the seaman's saint and to the left and right Saint Augustine or Saint Laurentius.

Reredos doors

The paintings on the doors are mostly original. Two important women saints in Norway in the Middle Ages are depicted on the inside: to the left Saint Catherine of Alexandria and to the right St. Margaret of Antioch.

Saint Olav and a bishop were originally pictured on the outside of the doors. This was, however, painted over in the1700s of a picture of Moses with the lions and Aron.

The reredos doors were partly retouched in 2018 by Stephanie Backes under the guidance of The Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage Research, NIKU.


Text: Einar Stamnes

Source: Therese Hervig Johnsen: 'Leka-skapene bestillingsverk eller markedsproduksjon?' Master thesis in Art History at the University of Oslo, Department of Philosophy, Classics, History of Art and Ideas Spring 2007

Photo: Einar Stamnes

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_churches_in_Nordland

Translation to English: Alasdair Graham-Brown