Bonad (Wall Hanging): copy of “Om Jesu Christi på ena åsna (Christ on a Donkey), 1818”

1952

Bonad (Wall Hanging): copy of “Om Jesu Christi på ena åsna (Christ on a Donkey), 1818”, 1952. Hans Prins (Swedish, 1908–1999), Leksands Hemslöjdsforening (Swedish, est. 1904). Plain weave linen, printed; overall: 96.5 x 155.6 cm (38 x 61 1/4 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, The Harold T. Clark Educational Extension Fund 1954.255 The line of text on this wall hanging reads “Of Jesus Christ riding into the city of Jerusalem on a donkey and the people spreading elderberries before (Him) upon the path.” The biblical story of Jesus Christ riding a donkey into Jerusalem is presented with a Swedish twist, including the use of the typically Swedish elderberry as well as an idyllic Swedish town representing Jerusalem. The wall hanging’s designer, Hans Prins, adapted a beloved wall mural by Back Erik Andersson (1778–1847) from a church in the Dalarna-region municipality of Leksand. Wall hangings were used to decorate modern urban homes, reminding Swedes of their rural roots.