medieval Sweden. The church thus grew piecemeal by the addition of chapels. Another set of murals, painted by Albertus Pictor and decorating the south west vaults (the paintings are currently not visible from the floor of the church) was also added during the 15th century. Between 1474 and 1496, a major reconstruction of the church was carried out which then incorporated these chapels into a single, unified space and installed new vaults, creating a uniformly high ceiling. The church was at approximately the same time also substantially expanded toward the east, while a choir was also added. This was partially because the church had become too small for the growing population of the city. The choir was demolished during the 16th century. The tower was also built in the early 15th century and was originally intended mainly as a defensive tower. By the end of the 15th century Storkyrkan had acquired the basic shape and size that it still has. Reformation and later changes During the 16th century, the Reformation in Sweden led to important changes for the church. Catholicism was abandoned and Lutheranism was adopted. The state confiscated much of the property of the church, including large amounts of silver from the chapels and altars of Storkyrkan. Although Sweden as a whole did not suffer from any extensive outbreaks of iconoclasm during the Reformation, some of the formerly Catholic sculptures of the church were vandalised. When Christian II of Denmark resided in Stockholm in 1520, the church was fortified, a reflection of the political tensions which, among other things, led to the Stockholm Bloodbath in 1521. Adam van Düren was responsible for these works, and he also made an allegorical sculpture adorning the base of one of the pillars of the church. It depicts a male and a female lion and an eel, together with a satirical inscription of dubious meaning. Some further changes to the pillars, vaults and walls of the church were made during the reign of King John III in order to further harmonise the interior space. Changes during the 18th century During the 18th century, the facade of Storkyrkan underwent far-reaching changes. The medieval exterior was completely transformed into a Baroque exterior. Nicodemus Tessin the Younger had put forward a proposal to remake the facade in a more contemporary style. In 1736, Johan Eberhard Carlberg was employed to oversee repairs of the church tower. Relatively