The Lutheran Reformation movement reached Sweden in the 1520s and can be viewed as having reached fruition by the middle of the seventeenth century. It was not, generally speaking, the first reform movement in the Catholic Church, but there are few signs of any reforming tendencies in Sweden before Luther. Admittedly, in her Revelations St. Birgitta (c. 1303- 1373) expressed fierce criticism of the loose adherence of the contemporary mendicant orders to their original rules, but not apparently with any impact that could bear comparison with the Observant movements that developed on the Continent in the Dominican and Franciscan orders. It seems Franciscan observance reached Denmark at least, but in Sweden there are only a few indications of any comparable development.

The late medieval Catholic Church was characterized by the doctrine of Purgatory with its purifying flames and sermons on the even worse horrors of hell, leading to an accelerating growth of indulgence commerce and a growing emphasis on the cult of the merciful and compassionate Virgin and on Christ's Passion, particularly his bodily suffering. One of the most debated questions was whether Mary, mother of Christ and queen of heaven, was born free from all stain of sin and what, in that case, this meant. Inscriptions on church walls like ‘Help Maria’ were common and witness to people's trust in her power. This confidence in the Virgin's power to help and the cult of Corpus Christi resulted in a multitude of guilds and altar foundations. In Church art images such as the Lady of the Rosary, the Apocalyptic Virgin, and the Man of Sorrows became common, all three connected with indulgence. Although images like these were closely linked to the Catholic cult, it seems that they were not removed by the reformers. It even happened, though rarely, that motifs of this kind were painted anew (e.g. Säby; see below). However, as we shall see, the cult of saints, Mary included, was something that the reformers were to clamp down on everywhere – including Sweden.

In Sweden, the fifteenth century and the period leading up to the Reformation was marked by struggles for power and unrest, in both the secular and ecclesiastic spheres.