Elizabeth Gruschow

The Bronze Behemoth: Bernwardian Base of Behavior

The Bronze Bernward Doors, of Hildesheim Cathedral in Hildesheim, Germany, stand as imposing guardians, featuring somber imagery drawn from the Book of Genesis and the life of Jesus across sixteen panels. Completed in 1015, these doors serve as the barrier between the mundane world and the sacred space of Hildesheim Cathedral's southwestern entrance. They confront visitors with mirrored narratives—one depicting estrangement from the divine, the other depicting communion with it—prompting solemn contemplation of one's actions and spiritual state.
These doors are emblematic of a broader trend in medieval Northern Europe, where the juxtaposition of beauty and the macabre serves as a potent narrative and prescriptive tool. The region's history, religious tradition, and cultural milieu provide fertile ground for the creation and reception of such evocative artworks. Through macabre imagery, the doors wielded a powerful influence, shaping normative behavior for the congregation and establishing moral values within the community.
The lineage of such lurid depictions in Christianity stretches back to the very symbol of the faith—the cross—where the themes of suffering and redemption are central. This fascination with the macabre persists through time, finding expression in artworks like the Bernward Doors and their descendants, such as the Gniezno Doors in Poland.
The innovative technique employed in crafting the Bernward Doors, casting each leaf as a single piece using the lost-wax process, highlights the skill of the artisans involved. However, despite the acclaim for these masterpieces, the identities of the artists have faded into obscurity, overshadowed by the patronage of Bishop Bernward (960-1022), the Bishop of Hildesheim, a central power of the Holy Roman Empire. The anonymous labor and relationship between the Church, its patrons, and the wider community, underscore the normative function of these doors within the socio-religious landscape of medieval Hildesheim.

These mirroring scenes on the dual panels exemplify the narrative effect of the doors. On the left side is the judgment and expulsion of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden, and the right depicts Pontius Pilot’s judgment of Jesus to crucifixion. The reflective narratives of castigation convey the consequences of sin, and the reason for worship. The skeletal bodies of the condemned Adam and Eve underscore their separation from the divine—a macabre rendering to show what could happen to a heretical viewer. The Judgment scene on the right panel represents the result of Adam and Eve’s actions: the sin that every person is born with, and the need for Jesus to die on the cross, lending evidence for the prescriptive nature of narration the doors hold. 

Bernward’s Candlesticks are another commissioned work of art by Bishop Bernward that feature the regional mastery of metalworking and anonymity of the artisan. Inscribed on them are the words “Bishop Bernward ordered his servant to cast this candlestick in the first flowering of this art, not from gold or silver but nevertheless as you see it here.” This statement paired with the anonymity of the artisan is mimicked in the Hildesheim Doors. The candlesticks are plated in silver with an iron core, referencing the quote. They were completed in the same year as the doors, during a time of innovation for the craft of metal casting in Bernward’s commissions. Around the 10th century, this region was acclaimed for its bronze work. The reference to the artisan and the notoriety of Hildesheim’s mastery of metal working ties into the importance of the craft regarding Bernward’s commissions and choice of materials.