Krusenberg

KRUSENBERG, Not at all what you think.

You may have seen it in a Baptist home or in a chapel, in postcard format or in the original size of more than two meters wide - Gustaf Cederström's painting "Baptisterna" from 1887 is one of Sweden's most reproduced works of art. Many believe that the painting depicts the first Baptist baptism in Sweden, which took place in Halland, but in fact the setting is a bay of Lake Mälaren near Krusenberg Manor in Alsike and the intention is to convey an atmosphere of a magical Nordic summer night. The artist, one of Sweden's best-known artists of the time after painting "Karl XII's Corpse Ride", was a member of the noble Cederström family who resided at Krusenberg, and he had his summer studio in the park, where he used the farm people as models to recreate the experience he had had late one night. We know an unusual amount about the painting from his own notes. The girl on the willow tree is "Inspector Löf's daughter" (Löf was more correct on the farm), the old man in the foreground is the farm fisherman Ekberg and the woman in the center was called Thilda Dahlgren. Many of the people on the farm belonged to the local free church congregations. The painting was eventually donated by a patron to the Swedish Baptist Society and now hangs in Betel Folk High School in Bromma.

From "Ingegerdsleden: Pilgrimsled för andlighet, kultur och fred" published by the Church of Sweden. Available as PDF: https://www.svenskakyrkan.se/filer/Ingegerdsleden_bok.pdf