page_title: Nidaros Cathedral West Front
section_title: Top row: kings and prophets of the Old Testament
hierarchical_section_title: Nidaros Cathedral West Front / Sculptures / Details of sculptures / Top row: kings and prophets of the Old Testament
caption_attribution_description: English: Moses from the west wall of Nidarosdomen.
context_page_description: The Nidaros Cathedral West Front, which includes multiple sculptures, was the final portion of the Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim, Norway that was restored. Nidaros Cathedral is the world's northernmost medieval cathedral and Norway's national sanctuary. The West Front is the cathedral's main facade and one of the most beautiful and ornate portions of the church. The restoration of the West Front took from 1905 to 1983 and was worked on by a large number of sculptors. In 1869, the Nidaros Cathedral Restoration Workshop was founded with the purpose of restoring the Cathedral, and celebrated a 150 years Anniversary in 2019.
  A picture of the West Front from 1661 shows extensive deterioration, with only the bottom sections left standing. Only five statues from the Middle Ages have survived. The restoration of the West Front took from 1905 to 1983 and was worked on by a large number of sculptors.
  The largest church bell in Norway hangs in the West Front's north tower. Installed in 1964, it weighs 2,400 kg, and people say that it can be heard in Melhus, all of 30 km away, when the wind is in the right direction. The church has three bells.
context_section_description: The kings and prophets from the kingdom of Judah who prophesied the coming of the Christ - Christ's spiritual and physical ancestors. The series includes five prophets and three kings on each side. In addition, John the Baptist and Moses are found in the smaller niches on each side of the rose window.
  1. Patriarch Abraham 
   Abraham was a descendant of Noah, and the sacrifice of his son Isaac is seen in Christian theology as a forerunner of Christ's sacrifice. The sculpture was shaped by Knut Skinnarland and sculpted by Steffen Krogstad and shows Abraham lifting a knife against Isaac. The motif on the shelf shows the sheep, which was eventually accepted as a substitute for a human offering.
  2. Prophet Samuel 
   Samuel was the first and one of the most important prophets mentioned in the Bible. It was he who anointed David as King of Israel. The sculpture of Samuel, modeled by Kristofer Leirdal, shows a knife in his right hand and a lamb to be sacrificed on the left. It was sculpted by Leirdal together with Josef Ankile.
  3. Prophet Isaiah 
   Isaiah was a prophet who lived during the times of the kings Uzziah Jotham Ahaz and Hezekiah. It is based on a model by Stinius Fredriksen, and carries a twig in each hand, a symbol of the prophecies of the Book of Isaiah, which marks the coming of the Messiah as a descendant of a branch of the family of King David. Steffen Krogstad was responsible for carving the image.  
  4. Prophet Ezekiel 
   Ezekiel is one of the four great biblical prophets. He was imprisoned in Babylon and was considered a great mystic and seer. The image depicts the prophet with two wheels in hand, intertwined with each other, a motif from the Book of Ezekiel. It was designed by Tone Thiis Schjetne and carved by Gunnar Sundet.
  5. Prophet Jonah 
   The Book of Jonah tells that Jonah defied the word of God and was punished by being swallowed by a whale, where he lived for three days and three nights. His experience is seen as a foreshadowing of the death and resurrection of Jesus. The sculpture is a design of Odd Hilt, and carved by Per Jensen and Erling Ola Moumen Nygård in 1982. At the base a whale is represented.
  6. King David 
   King David is one of the main characters of the Old Testament and in the Christian tradition, an ancestor of Jesus. Kristofer Leirdal designed his image with a harp in his hands to symbolize his interest in music. At the base there is a temple with the Lion of Judah at the entry. The piece was sculpted by Gunnar Sundet between 1973 and 1976.   
  7. King Jehoshaphat  
   Jehoshaphat was a king of Judah and one of the ancestors of Jesus mentioned in the Gospel of Matthew. Jehoshaphat, who holds a scepter, was modeled by Kristofer Leirdalen and hewn by Bård Sagfjæra,
  8. King Hezekiah 
   Hezekiah has been judged as one of the most prominent kings of Judah. In his hands he holds a scepter, and his foot is an image based on the Second Book of Kings 19:35, where Hezekiah, aided by God, defended his kingdom against the Assyrian's: And it came to pass that night, that the angel of the LORD went forth, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred fourscore and five thousand; and when men arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses. The statue was designed by Knut Skinnarland and the sculpture is the work of Ola Moum.
  9. John the Baptist 
   John the Baptist prophesied the coming of the Messiah. His statue, based on a model by Knut Skinnarland, show him wearing a camelhair cloak and holding to his chest Agnus Dei, the Lamb of God, symbolizing Jesus' shedding of his blood to take away the sins of the world (Cf. John 1:29). Gunnar Sundet carved this statue.  
  10.  Moses 
   Moses is a Biblical Hebrew religious leader, lawgiver, and prophet, to whom the authorship of the Pentateuch is traditionally attributed.   He is modeled holding the stone tablets containing the Decalogue, given to Moses on Mount Sinai (Exodus 19:23) in his hands. The model is the work of Arnold Haukeland, and the statue is carved by Axel Rönninge.
  11. King Josiah  
   Josiah was king of Judah and is remembered for having 
caption: 10. Moses
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