Gniezno Doors
The bronze doors of Gniezno is a Romanesque doorway in the south portal of the Archcathedral to Gniezno. It dates from the period 1160-1180. , The double-leaf door ( Porta Enea, Porta Regia ) is in 18 relief martyrdom Wojciechs represents the first saint of Poland.
Description
The left wing consists of a single bronze Rotgussteil and measures 328 × 84 × 1.5 cm. The right wing is of nearly the same extent, but was poured into 24 parts and only then joined together. The molds are not obtained. After installation, the door was almost exclusively show purposes. It was only opened at coronations and major religious holidays.
The 18 images follow thematically the legends about the life of Adalbert, particularly the Life of John Canaparius. They are evenly distributed on both doors. The cycle starts at the bottom left and runs on the left wing from the bottom up, on the right the other way around from top to bottom. The cycle is divided into three groups.
The first three images of the left side provide Wojciechs youth is: His birth (I.), the healing of the sick boy on the altar of the church in Libice ( II ) and the arrival at the cathedral school in Magdeburg ( III.). It is followed by three scenes from his work as a bishop of Prague: A prayer at the grave of the martyrs ( IV ), investiture by Otto II in Verona (V.) and the healing of a demoniac (VI ). The top three images show the left Adalbert's turning away from the world: a dream in which Christ appears to the bishop ( VII ), liberation of Christian slaves ( VIII ) and a miracle scene in Roman monastery on the Aventine ( IX. ).
The right side starts at the top with Adalbert's work as a missionary. After landing his ship in Prussia (X. ) the door show the bishop as he baptizes Gentiles (XI ) and before the enemy Prussia preaches (XII ). In the middle there is his death: the last mass (XIII ), the martyr ( XIV ) and the bier with the corpse impaled on a pole head Adalbert (XV ). The last three scenes describe the beginning of his saints cult. Duke Boleslaw buys the body of the missionary free (XVI ), the body is transferred formally to Gniezno (XVII ) and in the cathedral of Gniezno buried (XVIII ).
Origin
Commissioned the work was an archbishop of Gniezno, Zdzisław I. (before 1177-1180 ) or Bogumil (after 1180 to before 1191 ). The door should have been created by artists from the Meuse and poured in Gniezno itself. There are also suspicions that a connection with the Cathedral of Hildesheim there, because the scenes of Bernward's door in the Hildesheim cathedral have a similar, rare medieval images on doors arrangement. However, the picture sequence in Hildesheim is reversed: on the left side and downwards on the right upwards. Also, a joint submission of both works of art is possible.