1 00:00:04,953 --> 00:00:07,902 We're looking at the Bishop Bernward doors 2 00:00:07,902 --> 00:00:10,180 that date from about 1015. 3 00:00:10,180 --> 00:00:12,382 We know that Bishop Bernard went 4 00:00:12,382 --> 00:00:14,584 on a pilgrimage to Rome, 5 00:00:14,584 --> 00:00:16,788 and then returned back to Hildesheim 6 00:00:16,788 --> 00:00:18,398 and wanted to recreate some 7 00:00:18,398 --> 00:00:20,800 of the monumental art that he saw. 8 00:00:20,008 --> 00:00:21,619 And specifically when he was in Rome, 9 00:00:21,619 --> 00:00:24,832 he saw the monumental wooden doors at Santa Sabina 10 00:00:24,832 --> 00:00:27,070 that have scenes from the Old and New Testament 11 00:00:27,070 --> 00:00:27,965 carved into them. 12 00:00:27,965 --> 00:00:30,118 And he felt like he needed his own doors. 13 00:00:30,118 --> 00:00:33,548 We read these starting in the upper left hand corner, 14 00:00:33,548 --> 00:00:35,926 in which you have the creation 15 00:00:35,926 --> 00:00:37,558 of Eve from the side of Adam. 16 00:00:37,558 --> 00:00:39,285 And then, below that, 17 00:00:39,285 --> 00:00:41,120 is the presentation of Eve to Adam. 18 00:00:41,012 --> 00:00:42,741 Then the Temptation. 19 00:00:42,741 --> 00:00:45,977 Below that is then the accusation of Adam and Eve. 20 00:00:45,977 --> 00:00:48,575 And then below that the Expulsion. 21 00:00:48,575 --> 00:00:52,036 The panel below that, interrupted by the door handles, 22 00:00:52,036 --> 00:00:54,865 and we see Adam working the land on the left – 23 00:00:54,865 --> 00:00:57,211 Eve nursing on the right. 24 00:00:57,211 --> 00:00:59,786 And a fun fact about Eve's nursing is that this is one of 25 00:00:59,786 --> 00:01:02,701 maybe only twenty images of Eve nursing. 26 00:01:02,701 --> 00:01:07,160 Below that we have Cain and Abel and their sacrifices 27 00:01:07,160 --> 00:01:09,201 or presentation to the Lord. 28 00:01:09,201 --> 00:01:11,657 Below that the final panel 29 00:01:11,657 --> 00:01:14,113 is the murder of Abel by Cain. 30 00:01:14,113 --> 00:01:16,569 And then instead of going back to the top on the right 31 00:01:16,569 --> 00:01:17,953 it starts at the bottom, where we have the Enunciation 32 00:01:17,953 --> 00:01:20,991 with Mary and the Angel. 33 00:01:20,991 --> 00:01:23,738 Then the Nativity – that's the birth of Jesus. 34 00:01:23,738 --> 00:01:26,153 And then the scene is interrupted by the 35 00:01:26,153 --> 00:01:28,658 door handle here, is the adoration of the Magi. 36 00:01:28,658 --> 00:01:30,435 We have the three Magi on the right 37 00:01:30,435 --> 00:01:32,363 approaching Mary and Jesus on the left. 38 00:01:32,363 --> 00:01:34,733 Above that we have the Presentation in the Temple. 39 00:01:34,733 --> 00:01:37,938 Above that we've got Christ being presented 40 00:01:37,938 --> 00:01:40,816 to either Herod or Pilate before his crucifixion. 41 00:01:40,816 --> 00:01:43,815 Above that we've got the crucifixion of Christ. 42 00:01:43,815 --> 00:01:46,229 About that we have the Marys at the tomb, 43 00:01:46,229 --> 00:01:47,706 which was the standard scene showing 44 00:01:47,706 --> 00:01:50,397 the resurrection in the early Middle Ages. 45 00:01:50,397 --> 00:01:52,415 And then at the very top we have 46 00:01:52,415 --> 00:01:54,433 what's called the "Noli me tangere" [Touch me not] 47 00:01:54,433 --> 00:01:56,452 Mary Magdalene sees Jesus in the garden 48 00:01:56,452 --> 00:01:57,895 and he says, "Don't touch me." 49 00:01:57,895 --> 00:02:01,199 And so we have our scenes from early Genesis, 50 00:02:01,199 --> 00:02:03,697 and then scenes from the Gospels. 51 00:02:03,697 --> 00:02:05,330 Now one of the really interesting things 52 00:02:05,330 --> 00:02:06,963 that happens here, is that we have 53 00:02:06,963 --> 00:02:08,596 all the scenes lined up next to each other. 54 00:02:08,596 --> 00:02:11,431 There are some visual and also some thematic patterns 55 00:02:11,431 --> 00:02:13,063 that happen left to right. 56 00:02:13,063 --> 00:02:15,626 And the one that I think is a really good example – 57 00:02:15,626 --> 00:02:17,577 in the third panel from the top, 58 00:02:17,577 --> 00:02:19,528 we've got the Temptation. 59 00:02:19,528 --> 00:02:21,481 Adam and Eve are about to eat the fruit. 60 00:02:21,481 --> 00:02:24,033 And then on the right, the Crucifixion. 61 00:02:24,033 --> 00:02:26,929 And if we look at the tree that holds the fruit 62 00:02:26,929 --> 00:02:28,396 in the Adam and Eve scene- 63 00:02:28,396 --> 00:02:30,973 it's very much a cruciform shaped tree – 64 00:02:30,973 --> 00:02:33,041 just as we have Christ on the cross 65 00:02:33,041 --> 00:02:35,145 in the center of the other image. 66 00:02:35,145 --> 00:02:37,538 And then we have Adam and Eve on either side – 67 00:02:37,538 --> 00:02:39,956 just as we have the tormentors on either side. 68 00:02:39,956 --> 00:02:42,618 And then on he far edges of the Adam-and-Eve scene, 69 00:02:42,618 --> 00:02:45,248 we've got trees and then we have Mary and John 70 00:02:45,248 --> 00:02:46,871 in the crucifixion scene. 71 00:02:46,871 --> 00:02:49,623 So there's a similarity of composition. 72 00:02:49,623 --> 00:02:51,630 And what I think that does is bring out 73 00:02:51,630 --> 00:02:53,712 the thematic connection of 74 00:02:53,712 --> 00:02:57,369 "In Adam all men die. In Christ, all men are made alive." 75 00:02:57,369 --> 00:03:00,087 Which is a really important idea for Christianity – 76 00:03:00,087 --> 00:03:02,081 and especially for Christianity in the Middle Ages. 77 00:03:02,081 --> 00:03:04,172 Absolutely. This is a very long, old tradition 78 00:03:04,172 --> 00:03:06,263 in Christianity – 79 00:03:06,263 --> 00:03:08,355 to compare Christ as the new Adam- 80 00:03:08,355 --> 00:03:10,203 and then Mary as the new Eve. 81 00:03:10,203 --> 00:03:13,364 And you have traditions that the cross was made 82 00:03:13,364 --> 00:03:15,935 from the wood of the tree in the garden. 83 00:03:15,935 --> 00:03:18,061 So this is an Ottonian work of art. 84 00:03:18,061 --> 00:03:20,602 And Ottonians were kind of hangers-on 85 00:03:20,602 --> 00:03:22,716 to the Carolingian Renaissance. 86 00:03:22,716 --> 00:03:24,771 They saw themselves as being inheritors 87 00:03:24,771 --> 00:03:26,484 of the Carolingian Empire. 88 00:03:26,484 --> 00:03:29,524 In my mind, they're not so much looking back 89 00:03:29,524 --> 00:03:32,279 so diligently to the classical models. 90 00:03:32,279 --> 00:03:34,939 But there is definitely the flavor 91 00:03:34,939 --> 00:03:37,812 of some of that Carolingian Renaissance here. 92 00:03:37,812 --> 00:03:40,017 These are cast in solid bronze. 93 00:03:40,017 --> 00:03:41,271 And it's very much thought that 94 00:03:41,271 --> 00:03:44,853 the lost wax method was used here – 95 00:03:44,853 --> 00:03:48,207 that Bishop Bernward had his artists recreate 96 00:03:48,207 --> 00:03:50,531 or rediscover the lost-wax method, 97 00:03:50,531 --> 00:03:54,043 so that these doors could be cast in two single pieces, 98 00:03:54,043 --> 00:03:56,482 as opposed to being hammered from the inside 99 00:03:56,482 --> 00:03:58,921 with the 'reposé' 100 00:03:58,921 --> 00:04:01,360 And that is very much in keeping with that Carolingian 101 00:04:01,360 --> 00:04:03,672 and the inherited idea of looking back 102 00:04:03,672 --> 00:04:05,984 to classical and ancient models 103 00:04:05,984 --> 00:04:08,298 and reclaiming them and reviving them. 104 00:04:08,298 --> 00:04:09,467 Right. So we have the ancient method 105 00:04:09,467 --> 00:04:12,377 used here in the Ottonian Period.