The Lögrétta Valances
On the 80th anniversary of the Republic of Iceland, in collaboration with Þingvellir National Park, the National Museum of Iceland will display valances that allegedly hung in Lögrétta (Court of Legislature) at Þingvellir in the late 18th century.
The so-called Lögrétta Valances were sold in 1858 to a Scottish traveller, Robert Mackay Smith, but are today part of the collection of National Museum Scotland. At the time that they were sold they had been at Bessastaðir for some time.
The Lögrétta Valances are in fact two separate and unequal bed canopies made of wool and linen that have been sewn together at their long sides. They contain embroidered decorations and text. On one there is an adage while the other contains a part of the Passion Hymns by Hallgrímur Pétursson.
On loan courtesy of National Museums Scotland. The exhibition is in The Corner and will stand for a year.
Sýningarnefnd / Exhibition Committee: Anna Leif Auðar Elídóttir, Bryndís Erla Hjálmarsdóttir, Joe W. Walser, Kristín Halla Baldvinsdóttir, Kristján Mímisson, Hildigunnur Þráinsdóttir, Sigríður Þorgeirsdóttir
Verkefnisstjóri / Exhibition Management: Anna Leif Auðar Elídóttir
Handritshöfundur / Manuscript: Helgi Þorláksson
Þátttakendur í handritsgerð / Co-writers: Sigurlaug Dagsdóttir, Kristján Mímisson
Sýningarhönnun / Exhibition design: Axel Hallkell Jóhannesson, Ármann Agnarsson
Samstarfsaðilar / Collaborative Partners: Þjóðminjasafn Skotlands / National Museums Scotland, Alþingi Íslendinga/ Icelandic Parliament, Menningar- og viðskiptaráðuneyti / Ministry of Culture and Business Affairs, Þjóðgarðurinn á Þingvöllum / Þingvellir National Park
Þakkir / Acknowledgements: Lögréttutjöldin koma að láni frá Þjóðminjasafni Skotlands / On loan courtesy of National Museums Scotland
Image © National Museums Scotland