The Lögrétta Valences
On the 80th anniversary of the Republic of Iceland, in collaboration with Þingvellir National Park, the National Museum of Iceland will display valences that allegedly hung in Lögrétta (Court of Legislature) at Þingvellir in the late 18th century.
The so-called Lögrétta Valences 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 Valences 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 will be opened in The Corner and stand for a year.
