Bronze doors, Saint Michael's, Hildesheim, commissioned by Bishop Bernward, 1015

Bronze doors, 1015, commissioned by Bishop Bernward for Saint Michael's, Hildesheim (Germany).

A conversation with Dr. Nancy Ross and Jennifer Freeman.

We're looking at the Bishop Bernward doors

that date from about 1015.

We know that Bishop Bernard went

on a pilgrimage to Rome,

and then returned back to Hildesheim

and wanted to recreate some

of the monumental art that he saw.

And specifically when he was in Rome,

he saw the monumental wooden doors at Santa Sabina

that have scenes from the Old and New Testament

carved into them.

And he felt like he needed his own doors.

We read these starting in the upper left hand corner,

in which you have the creation

of Eve from the side of Adam.

And then, below that,

is the presentation of Eve to Adam.

Then the Temptation.

Below that is then the accusation of Adam and Eve.

And then below that the Expulsion.

The panel below that, interrupted by the door handles,

and we see Adam working the land on the left –

Eve nursing on the right.

And a fun fact about Eve's nursing is that this is one of

maybe only twenty images of Eve nursing.

Below that we have Cain and Abel and their sacrifices

or presentation to the Lord.

Below that the final panel

is the murder of Abel by Cain.

And then instead of going back to the top on the right

it starts at the bottom, where we have the Enunciation

with Mary and the Angel.

Then the Nativity – that's the birth of Jesus.

And then the scene is interrupted by the

door handle here, is the adoration of the Magi.

We have the three Magi on the right

approaching Mary and Jesus on the left.

Above that we have the Presentation in the Temple.

Above that we've got Christ being presented

to either Herod or Pilate before his crucifixion.

Above that we've got the crucifixion of Christ.

About that we have the Marys at the tomb,

which was the standard scene showing

the resurrection in the early Middle Ages.

And then at the very top we have

what's called the "Noli me tangere" [Touch me not]

Mary Magdalene sees Jesus in the garden

and he says, "Don't touch me."

And so we have our scenes from early Genesis,

and then scenes from the Gospels.

Now one of the really interesting things

that happens here, is that we have

all the scenes lined up next to each other.

There are some visual and also some thematic patterns

that happen left to right.

And the one that I think is a really good example –

in the third panel from the top,

we've got the Temptation.

Adam and Eve are about to eat the fruit.

And then on the right, the Crucifixion.

And if we look at the tree that holds the fruit

in the Adam and Eve scene-

it's very much a cruciform shaped tree –

just as we have Christ on the cross

in the center of the other image.

And then we have Adam and Eve on either side –

just as we have the tormentors on either side.

And then on he far edges of the Adam-and-Eve scene,

we've got trees and then we have Mary and John

in the crucifixion scene.

So there's a similarity of composition.

And what I think that does is bring out

the thematic connection of

"In Adam all men die. In Christ, all men are made alive."

Which is a really important idea for Christianity –

and especially for Christianity in the Middle Ages.

Absolutely. This is a very long, old tradition

in Christianity –

to compare Christ as the new Adam-

and then Mary as the new Eve.

And you have traditions that the cross was made

from the wood of the tree in the garden.

So this is an Ottonian work of art.

And Ottonians were kind of hangers-on

to the Carolingian Renaissance.

They saw themselves as being inheritors

of the Carolingian Empire.

In my mind, they're not so much looking back

so diligently to the classical models.

But there is definitely the flavor

of some of that Carolingian Renaissance here.

These are cast in solid bronze.

And it's very much thought that

the lost wax method was used here –

that Bishop Bernward had his artists recreate

or rediscover the lost-wax method,

so that these doors could be cast in two single pieces,

as opposed to being hammered from the inside

with the 'reposé'

And that is very much in keeping with that Carolingian

and the inherited idea of looking back

to classical and ancient models

and reclaiming them and reviving them.

Right. So we have the ancient method

used here in the Ottonian Period.