Bronze doors, Saint Michael's, Hildesheim, commissioned by Bishop Bernward, 1015
-
0:05 - 0:08We're looking at the Bishop Bernward doors
-
0:08 - 0:10that date from about 1015.
-
0:10 - 0:12We know that Bishop Bernard went
-
0:12 - 0:15on a pilgrimage to Rome,
-
0:15 - 0:17and then returned back to Hildesheim
-
0:17 - 0:18and wanted to recreate some
-
0:18 - 0:21of the monumental art that he saw.
-
0:20 - 0:22And specifically when he was in Rome,
-
0:22 - 0:25he saw the monumental wooden doors at Santa Sabina
-
0:25 - 0:27that have scenes from the Old and New Testament
-
0:27 - 0:28carved into them.
-
0:28 - 0:30And he felt like he needed his own doors.
-
0:30 - 0:34We read these starting in the upper left hand corner,
-
0:34 - 0:36in which you have the creation
-
0:36 - 0:38of Eve from the side of Adam.
-
0:38 - 0:39And then, below that,
-
0:39 - 0:41is the presentation of Eve to Adam.
-
0:41 - 0:43Then the Temptation.
-
0:43 - 0:46Below that is then the accusation of Adam and Eve.
-
0:46 - 0:49And then below that the Expulsion.
-
0:49 - 0:52The panel below that, interrupted by the door handles,
-
0:52 - 0:55and we see Adam working the land on the left –
-
0:55 - 0:57Eve nursing on the right.
-
0:57 - 1:00And a fun fact about Eve's nursing is that this is one of
-
1:00 - 1:03maybe only twenty images of Eve nursing.
-
1:03 - 1:07Below that we have Cain and Abel and their sacrifices
-
1:07 - 1:09or presentation to the Lord.
-
1:09 - 1:12Below that the final panel
-
1:12 - 1:14is the murder of Abel by Cain.
-
1:14 - 1:17And then instead of going back to the top on the right
-
1:17 - 1:18it starts at the bottom, where we have the Enunciation
-
1:18 - 1:21with Mary and the Angel.
-
1:21 - 1:24Then the Nativity – that's the birth of Jesus.
-
1:24 - 1:26And then the scene is interrupted by the
-
1:26 - 1:29door handle here, is the adoration of the Magi.
-
1:29 - 1:30We have the three Magi on the right
-
1:30 - 1:32approaching Mary and Jesus on the left.
-
1:32 - 1:35Above that we have the Presentation in the Temple.
-
1:35 - 1:38Above that we've got Christ being presented
-
1:38 - 1:41to either Herod or Pilate before his crucifixion.
-
1:41 - 1:44Above that we've got the crucifixion of Christ.
-
1:44 - 1:46About that we have the Marys at the tomb,
-
1:46 - 1:48which was the standard scene showing
-
1:48 - 1:50the resurrection in the early Middle Ages.
-
1:50 - 1:52And then at the very top we have
-
1:52 - 1:54what's called the "Noli me tangere" [Touch me not]
-
1:54 - 1:56Mary Magdalene sees Jesus in the garden
-
1:56 - 1:58and he says, "Don't touch me."
-
1:58 - 2:01And so we have our scenes from early Genesis,
-
2:01 - 2:04and then scenes from the Gospels.
-
2:04 - 2:05Now one of the really interesting things
-
2:05 - 2:07that happens here, is that we have
-
2:07 - 2:09all the scenes lined up next to each other.
-
2:09 - 2:11There are some visual and also some thematic patterns
-
2:11 - 2:13that happen left to right.
-
2:13 - 2:16And the one that I think is a really good example –
-
2:16 - 2:18in the third panel from the top,
-
2:18 - 2:20we've got the Temptation.
-
2:20 - 2:21Adam and Eve are about to eat the fruit.
-
2:21 - 2:24And then on the right, the Crucifixion.
-
2:24 - 2:27And if we look at the tree that holds the fruit
-
2:27 - 2:28in the Adam and Eve scene-
-
2:28 - 2:31it's very much a cruciform shaped tree –
-
2:31 - 2:33just as we have Christ on the cross
-
2:33 - 2:35in the center of the other image.
-
2:35 - 2:38And then we have Adam and Eve on either side –
-
2:38 - 2:40just as we have the tormentors on either side.
-
2:40 - 2:43And then on he far edges of the Adam-and-Eve scene,
-
2:43 - 2:45we've got trees and then we have Mary and John
-
2:45 - 2:47in the crucifixion scene.
-
2:47 - 2:50So there's a similarity of composition.
-
2:50 - 2:52And what I think that does is bring out
-
2:52 - 2:54the thematic connection of
-
2:54 - 2:57"In Adam all men die. In Christ, all men are made alive."
-
2:57 - 3:00Which is a really important idea for Christianity –
-
3:00 - 3:02and especially for Christianity in the Middle Ages.
-
3:02 - 3:04Absolutely. This is a very long, old tradition
-
3:04 - 3:06in Christianity –
-
3:06 - 3:08to compare Christ as the new Adam-
-
3:08 - 3:10and then Mary as the new Eve.
-
3:10 - 3:13And you have traditions that the cross was made
-
3:13 - 3:16from the wood of the tree in the garden.
-
3:16 - 3:18So this is an Ottonian work of art.
-
3:18 - 3:21And Ottonians were kind of hangers-on
-
3:21 - 3:23to the Carolingian Renaissance.
-
3:23 - 3:25They saw themselves as being inheritors
-
3:25 - 3:26of the Carolingian Empire.
-
3:26 - 3:30In my mind, they're not so much looking back
-
3:30 - 3:32so diligently to the classical models.
-
3:32 - 3:35But there is definitely the flavor
-
3:35 - 3:38of some of that Carolingian Renaissance here.
-
3:38 - 3:40These are cast in solid bronze.
-
3:40 - 3:41And it's very much thought that
-
3:41 - 3:45the lost wax method was used here –
-
3:45 - 3:48that Bishop Bernward had his artists recreate
-
3:48 - 3:51or rediscover the lost-wax method,
-
3:51 - 3:54so that these doors could be cast in two single pieces,
-
3:54 - 3:56as opposed to being hammered from the inside
-
3:56 - 3:59with the 'reposé'
-
3:59 - 4:01And that is very much in keeping with that Carolingian
-
4:01 - 4:04and the inherited idea of looking back
-
4:04 - 4:06to classical and ancient models
-
4:06 - 4:08and reclaiming them and reviving them.
-
4:08 - 4:09Right. So we have the ancient method
-
4:09 - 4:12used here in the Ottonian Period.
- Title:
- Bronze doors, Saint Michael's, Hildesheim, commissioned by Bishop Bernward, 1015
- Description:
-
Bronze doors, 1015, commissioned by Bishop Bernward for Saint Michael's, Hildesheim (Germany).
A conversation with Dr. Nancy Ross and Jennifer Freeman.
- Video Language:
- English
- Duration:
- 04:23
![]() |
Vanessa Lum edited English subtitles for Bronze doors, Saint Michael's, Hildesheim, commissioned by Bishop Bernward, 1015 | |
![]() |
Mike Ridgway edited English subtitles for Bronze doors, Saint Michael's, Hildesheim, commissioned by Bishop Bernward, 1015 | |
![]() |
Mike Ridgway edited English subtitles for Bronze doors, Saint Michael's, Hildesheim, commissioned by Bishop Bernward, 1015 | |
![]() |
Mike Ridgway edited English subtitles for Bronze doors, Saint Michael's, Hildesheim, commissioned by Bishop Bernward, 1015 | |
![]() |
Mike Ridgway edited English subtitles for Bronze doors, Saint Michael's, Hildesheim, commissioned by Bishop Bernward, 1015 | |
![]() |
Vanessa Lum edited English subtitles for Bronze doors, Saint Michael's, Hildesheim, commissioned by Bishop Bernward, 1015 | |
![]() |
Mike Ridgway edited English subtitles for Bronze doors, Saint Michael's, Hildesheim, commissioned by Bishop Bernward, 1015 |