Wooden door of St. Mary in the Capitol
The Romanesque wooden door of St. Mary in the Capitol is a double-leaf wooden door that was created around the middle of the 11th century. It is located in the south aisle of the Church of St. Maria im Kapitol in Cologne and is one of the most important, completely preserved wooden doors in art history. With the completion of the church around 1060 , it was attached to the north main portal (north cone ), but was brought into the interior in the 1930s to protect it from weathering. Therefore, it is still in very good condition today and some paint remains can still be seen. The two gate wings show 26 reliefs with pictures from the life of Christ .
The wooden door contains the most important surviving Christological relief cycle from the 11th century. The door has been recognized in its importance since the 19th century. Several medieval bronze doors of this type can be found in Central Europe , but the Cologne gate wings are the only carved wooden door from this period. It is not only the rarity of these doors that makes them so special, but also the quality of the carving and coloring. The bright and bold colors reappeared after a careful restoration in the 1930s.
Locations of the door
Since the middle of the 11th century, the two door wings have been on the north main portal or also known as the north conche. Since St. Maria in the Capitol was Cologne's largest monastery at that time, the emperor was greeted by the abbess on special occasions in front of this door . There was only a wooden bridge leading to the main entrance, because the monastery was on the so-called Capitol Hill and the north conche was higher than the rest of the building.
From the 12th century, however, the gate was surrounded by a vestibule and thus protected. Such a vestibule was also built on the south cone.
In 1832 both vestibules were demolished and rebuilt in a simplified manner. As a result, the reliefs on the door wings were soiled by the darkness. At the beginning of the 20th century, however, they were taken out of the door frame and placed in a corner of the vestibule, so they no longer closed the church. To protect the gate, a wire mesh was built in front of it, which made good photographs of the object almost impossible. Shortly before the turn of the century, however, a plaster cast was made , which from then on served as a photographic model. This was lost before the Second World War and you had to make do with a photograph of the plaster cast.
In 1935 it was determined that the three conches were in danger of collapsing and so the main entrance was moved from the north to the west. This entrance previously served as access to the cloister and the former monastery buildings . The official entrance is still there today and the parish center and a kindergarten as well as a library were built right next door.
During the Second World War, the gate wings were removed from the church to protect against damage caused by air raids and taken to remote areas. They were first stored in Pommersfelden Castle in Franconia and then in Krottorf Castle near Siegen. After a discussion with the community board and the National Socialists, who viewed the door as “typically German art” and did not want to expose it to destruction by the Allies, the door was relocated to Siegerland again. After the war, St. Maria in the Capitol was badly damaged and the door had to be kept in one of the ambulatory chapels of Cologne Cathedral .
In 1950 the door was returned to its home church and was placed there in the south aisle until 1984. In the following years, due to restoration work on the church, the gate wings had to change their location again, first in the crypt , then in the east conche and finally back in the south aisle .
Formal and technical structure
Manufacturing
The two door leaves, which are 485 cm high and together 248 cm wide, each consist of three oak planks on which the frames and panels carved in walnut wood are attached. Around these are larger, ornate, bulb-like frames on each wing. Between the panels and the outer frame you can see the tituli, the text-like headings that are painted on each picture. This is followed by relief-like carvings that could be described as thin rods of pearl and openwork braided bands . These and round knobs at the corner points frame the individual picture panels. The pearl rods around the panels should cover the gap between the panel and the braided tape. This creates the impression of a relief made from one piece of wood. But the individual frame pieces are attached to the oak planks with iron pins and nails drilled through the knobs. The outer frame beads are also nailed down, only without decoration with the help of the knobs. The smaller parts, such as pearl rods and lettering strips, are attached with thinner, almost inconspicuous pens. This door structure follows the tradition common in antiquity and late antiquity.
Panels and figures
The relief of the panels has been carved very vividly, so that some figures protrude beyond the frame. The lower edges of the board are particularly emphasized, as they serve as a base for the figures standing on them. The feet, legs and heads reach further out towards the viewer than the upper body. Most of the figures are shown in profile, but in some panels they are also shown from the front. In all of them, however, one can speak of a strong physicality and pronounced symmetry. The carver wanted to tell the biblical story with great accuracy.
Since the Baroque period, the door has been painted over with oil paint, which on the one hand was a good protective layer, but on the other hand also covered the remains of the original painting. These old resin paints were exposed again in the Schnütgen Museum in 1936 . The original colors were well preserved on the upper half of the door, but the lower side was very polished. But you can still see that strong colors were used. There is a strong red in the frames, the pearl rods are also red or green, like the leaves and tendrils on the outer bulge. The background of the panels is yellow, which indicates the gold background of the book illumination. The figures are kept in all possible colors, with some eyes, mouths and folds of the garment being painted on and not carved, as it would have been too fine for the carving knife.
iconography
22 panels illustrate the life of Jesus from the Annunciation to Pentecost . Four more panels at the bottom of the door show the three temptations of Christ and the homage by two cherubim . The left door wing contains the birth and youth of Christ, while the right wing contains his work and suffering. The text of the tituli describes the following:
"ANGELUS AFFATUR - STERILIS CUI LETIFICATUR HIC DEUS ARTATUR - PASTORIBUS INSINUATUR REX IUBET HII PERGUNT - STELLA DUCE MUNERA PROMUNT DISCIT UT IN SOMNIS - HOS DUCIT NON PEDE SEGNISON REX DERIDETUR (U.
… VITE REDDIT - QUI CECO LUMINA LIVIT EST ALIIS SOMNUS - YOU (M) PETRO PETRA PROFATUR CUM PURIS CENAT - QUI IUDAM PECTORE CELAT (CECAT?) HIC OBIT - EST POSITUS TUMULO TUMULOQUE LEVATUS DUM SCANDIT CELOS… "
"The angel announces - through him the sterile is delighted. Here God restricts himself - he is made known to the shepherds. The king orders them to move away - led by the star they offer their gifts As he teaches in a dream - he does not lead those who fail Foot The king is mocked - the scribe reveals the truth to him He gives the order to kill the innocent ... (children?)
(This?) ... he gives back to life - He who has anointed the eyes of the blind. The others are asleep - Then he says to Peter: (You are) the rock He eats with the pure - Judas blinds his heart Here he dies - he was laid in the grave and rose from the grave. Then he rises to heaven ... "
| Left wing (birth and youth) | Right wing (work and suffering) |
|---|---|
| 1. Annunciation to Mary and Visitation | 12. Entry into Jerusalem |
| 2. Annunciation to the Shepherds | 13. Healing of the blind |
| 3. Nativity | 14. Raising Lazarus from the dead |
| 4. The three magicians before Herod | 15. Gethsemane |
| 5. Adoration of the child | 16. Preparation of the Easter lamb |
| 6. Joseph's dream and the flight into Egypt | 17th Supper |
| 7. Two warriors with Herod | 18. Ascension |
| 8. Seeking advice from the learned | 19. Christ on the cross |
| 9. Herod hands over weapons | 20. Ascension |
| 10. Child murder | 21. Women at the grave |
| 11. Offering in the temple and baptism of Christ in the Jordan | 22. Pentecost |
Arrangement and loss
Over the years, many pieces of the frame have been lost or have been rearranged in different ways, including the 2nd and 3rd panels on the left wing. According to the tituli, the announcement to the shepherds came before the birth of Jesus. Boards 7, 8, 9 and 10 have also been reversed. According to the tituli, Christ would have to come first on the cross, then the women at the grave and finally the images of the Ascension. The loss of the lower right panel on the left door wing is particularly striking. This plasterboard, as well as many parts of the frame, can still be seen clearly on the plaster cast from around 1900. It can be assumed that the damaged panel was removed and lost for the purpose of making the impression.
After the restoration in 1936, several layers of paint, applied one on top of the other, could be recognized. Image headings that were previously invisible were also readable again.
Unfortunately, there has also been a further loss of carvings on the doors in recent years, which was caused by theft. The greatest damage was not caused by weathering or during the war, but only around 950 years after the work was completed by human hands.
Master question
It is assumed that the artist of this door wing came from the area around Cologne, between the Lower Rhine and Maas. This was suspected by art historians, since in the first half of the 11th century in Cologne and Liège the ivory art , which is called the small figure, flourished, which probably influenced the panel reliefs on the wooden door. However, other scientists are sure that not only one master worked on it. The art historian Richard Hamann, for example, believed that two artists were employed who carved and worked in their own individual ways. He was also of the opinion that they had received the same training and were from the same workshop. Hamann tried to assign each door leaf to one of these masters. Because if you compare the three large, rectangular panels on the left with those on the right, you can see that the one on the left depicts two scenes from the life of Christ, while the one on the right only one. There is another difference in the design of the reliefs. If one compares the Three Kings before Herod with the healing of the blind or the flight to Egypt with the Lord's Supper , then some are plastic and very elaborate, while the others have a clear structure and vertical lines. Hamann called this artist a "master of parallel figures".
Role models and imitations
The oldest example of church doors with reliefs are the fragments of the late antique wooden door from Sant'Ambrogio in Milan , which were made towards the end of the 4th century. The carved panels depict scenes from the story of David . The church of S. Sabina in Rome also has a late antique wooden door on which scenes from the Old Testament are depicted, dated around 430.
The greatest similarity has the Cologne door with the so-called Bernward door of the cathedral at Hildesheim , which was built around the 1015th This shows scenes from the Old and New Testament . Although the gate wings are cast from bronze, they were the greatest model for the Cologne door in terms of structure and choice of themes.
At about the same time as the door of St. Maria in the Capitol was built, the bronze door of the Augsburg Cathedral was built around 1065, it shows mythological , allegorical and Old Testament scenes. As mentioned above, ivory panels are also used as a model for the relief panels. The crucifixion scene on the ivory cover of the Lyskirchen Gospel from St. Georg in Cologne resembles the carvings on the wooden door, as does the ivory tablet on the book cover of the Theophanu Gospel in the Essen Cathedral Treasury . In addition, various crucifixes were made in the style of the relief panels, such as the one from St. Georg in Cologne around 1067.
literature
- Richard Hamann : The wooden door of the parish church of St. Maria in the Capitol. Publishing house of the University of Art History, Marburg / Lahn 1926
- Hermann Schnitzler : The wooden doors of St. Maria in the Capitol . (= Rhenish masterpieces 2). Röhrscheid, Bonn 1937
- Peter Bloch : The door wing of St. Maria in the Capitol in Cologne ; Kühlen, Mönchengladbach 1959. 2nd edition 1959. ISBN 978-3-87448-090-1
- Wolfgang Stracke: The door wings of St. Maria in the Capitol. In: Colonia Romanica. Yearbook of the Friends of Roman Churches Cologne 3, 1988, pp. 31–46
- Wolfgang Stracke: Investigations into the early furnishings of St. Maria in the Capitol in Cologne ; Dissertation, University of Bonn 1989
- Wolfgang Stracke: St. Maria in the Capitol - Cologne: the Romanesque picture door. Wienand, Cologne 1994, ISBN 3-87909-377-6
- Klaus Gereon Beuckers : Rex iubet - Christ imperat. Studies on the wooden doors of St. Maria in the Capitol and on the depictions of Herod before the investiture controversy. SH-Verlag, Cologne 1999, ISBN 3-89498-069-9
Individual evidence
- ↑ Bloch 1978, p. 6.
- ^ Translation after Stracke 1988, pp. 32–33.
- ↑ Schnitzler 1937, p. 9.
- ↑ Bloch 1978, p. 13.
- ↑ Bloch 1978, p. 14.
- ↑ Bloch 1978, p. 13.
- ↑ Bloch 1978, p. 5.
- ↑ Bloch 1978, p. 15.
Web links
- The wooden door of St. Maria in the Capitol on the homepage of the Förderverein Romanische Kirchen Köln
- The wooden door of St. Mary in the Capitol in the picture index of art and architecture
Coordinates: 50 ° 56 ′ 3.2 ″ N , 6 ° 57 ′ 31.2 ″ E