Urban målare actual name Urban Larsson, was a painter

Painting

Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...

 active in Sweden

Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

 during the 16th century.

Biography

Virtually nothing is known of the life and work of Urban målare. He is traditionally attributed the original version of the painting Vädersolstavlan

Vädersolstavlan

is an oil-on-panel painting depicting a halo display, an atmospheric optical phenomenon, observed over Stockholm on April 20, 1535. It is named after the sun dogs appearing on the upper right part of the painting...

, today well-known through the 1630s copy hanging in the Stockholm Cathedral

Storkyrkan

Sankt Nikolai kyrka , most commonly known as Storkyrkan and Stockholms domkyrka , is the oldest church in Gamla Stan, the old town in central Stockholm, Sweden. It is an important example of Swedish Brick Gothic...

. The painting is depicting a halo

Halo (optical phenomenon)

A halo from Greek ἅλως; also known as a nimbus, icebow or gloriole) is an optical phenomenon produced by ice crystals creating colored or white arcs and spots in the sky. Many are near the sun or moon but others are elsewhere and even in the opposite part of the sky...

 or sun dog

Sun dog

A sun dog or sundog, scientific name parhelion ; , also called a mock sun or a phantom sun, is an atmospheric phenomenon that creates bright spots of light in the sky, often on a luminous ring or halo on either side of the sun.Sundogs may appear as a colored patch of light to the left or right of...

 display over Stockholm

Stockholm

Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...

 in 1535 and is often mentioned as the oldest topographically correct view of the Swedish capital. As the painting is generally associated with the called Danube School

Danube school

The Danube School or Donau School is the name of a circle of painters of the first third of the 16th century in Bavaria and Austria . Many also were innovative printmakers, usually in etching...

, it is possible Urban målare got his education in Germany. Similarly, he is often attributed the painting Arvstavlan.

He is known to have worked as an official court painter for King Gustav Vasa

Gustav I of Sweden

Gustav I of Sweden, born Gustav Eriksson of the Vasa noble family and later known simply as Gustav Vasa , was King of Sweden from 1523 until his death....

from 1526 and is mentioned as having sold a property in the western part of Stockholm during the period 1533-1538 (Urban Målare uplåter et steenhuus wästantill).

Literature

• Göran Axel-Nilsson, (1941) "Urban målare", Sankt Eriks årsbok 1941, Samfundet S:t Erik,