War propaganda

Hundreds of sculptures on the ship reflect how King Gustav Adolf wanted the world to see Sweden and himself. Vasa was built for the war against Poland, and among the sculptures are several that belittle the enemy. The ship’s stern is a large advertisement for Sweden and Sweden’s king, a 17th-century form of war propaganda.

The imagery

The artists behind Vasa’s sculptures came from Germany, Holland and Sweden. They carved in oak, pine and limewood in a renaissance to early baroque style. Motifs came from Greek mythology, the Old testament, Roman history and from 17th-century Sweden’s fascination with its royal ancestors. On Vasa, Roman emperors, Greek gods, and Gothic warriors meet beautiful mermaids, angels and grinning demons. More than 60 lions appear in the decorations, the most impressive the three-meter-long figurehead in the form of a leaping lion.

The colours

For several years, the Vasa Museum investigated the ship’s colour scheme. Hundreds of microscopically small paint chips were analysed and interpreted, and from these we know with reasonable certainty how the ship was painted. Like the hull, today the sculptures are dark brown, both as a result of their years under water and the conservation process, but with the help of research, we have a completely different picture of how the ship originally appeared. Analysis has shown that Vasa was painted in bright colours on a strong, red background when she sailed on her maiden voyage.

In the museum, there is 1/10th scale model  of the ship, which shows the original colour scheme.