Adoration of the Magi

Adoration of the Magi

According to St. Augustine, the Magi were the first pagans to whom God was revealed through the star. Their adoration signifies the recognition of the Child as the Son of the Most High. The Gospels do not state that they were kings. However, theologians have referred to the Magi as kings since the 3rd century. The apocryphal Armenian Gospel of the Infancy states: “The three Wise Kings were brothers. The first was Melkon, king of the Persians, the second Gaspar, king of the Indians, and the third Balthazar, king of the Arabs” (Ew Dz Or XI, 1).

Based on the work of Pseudo-Bede from the 12th century (Collectanea et flores), the names of the Three Kings became commonly known as Caspar, Melchior, and Balthazar. In the Middle Ages, they were seen as representatives of the three known continents at the time: Europe, Africa, and Asia, which were symbolically indicated by the attributes placed under their feet: a dog, acanthus, and dragon. The star that the Magi saw in their homeland was commonly interpreted as the Star of Jacob from Balaam’s prophecy, of whom they were said to be descendants.

In medieval beliefs, the birth of a ruler was associated with the rising of his star. In the Płock artifact, it indicates the Child Jesus, enthroned with the Mother of God, as the awaited Messiah and Lord.

Płock Doors

The Płock Doors, also known as the Magdeburg Doors, Korsun Doors, or Sigtuna Doors, were bronze doors once located in the Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Płock. This is a relic of Romanesque art. Currently, the original doors are in the western portal of St. Sophia’s Cathedral in Veliky Novgorod, Russia, and a bronze casting (copy) has been in the Płock Cathedral since 1982.

Research indicates that the doors were probably in Płock for about 250 years before they adorned St. Sophia’s Cathedral in Veliky Novgorod. It is unclear how the doors ended up in Novgorod. According to a 15th-century legend, they were brought from Byzantium by Prince Vladimir the Great via Korsun in Crimea (hence the name Korsun Doors), although this is unlikely.

According to some historical hypotheses, they were looted in the 13th century by Lithuanians during their raid on Masovia. Other historians believe they were given as a gift by the Polish clergy or the dukes of Płock to Prince Lingwen Olgierdovich of Novgorod, brother of Władysław II Jagiełło. Some sources say they arrived in Novgorod as early as 1170, shortly after being made, while others suggest before the mid-15th century. According to a version announced in 1823 by Friedrich von Adelung, the doors are a military trophy of the Novgorodians (specifically Karelians, Estonians, Izhoras, and northern Russians), who captured them in 1187 during an expedition to the then-capital of Sweden, Sigtuna (hence the 19th-century name Sigtuna Doors).

The doors for the Płock Cathedral were ordered by Bishop Alexander of Malonne (died 1156). Master Riquin, with assistant Waismut, cast them in bronze using the lost-wax technique between 1152 and 1154 in one of the Magdeburg foundries. It is uncertain whether it belonged to the local fabrica ecclesiae, operating at the cathedral, managed by Bishop Wichman of Wettin (c. 1110–1192).

Figures of bishops and craftsmen are among the reliefs, to which in the first quarter of the 15th century, the representation of a Russian caster, Master Abraham, was added. He also adapted the doors to the western portal of the St. Sophia Cathedral in Veliky Novgorod, adding Cyrillic inscriptions translated from Latin. It is hypothetically assumed that the doors were looted from Płock at the end of the 13th century and, after various fates, were hung as a “copper icon” in an Orthodox church at the beginning of the 15th century.

3D models

search

See other monuments in the category: Craftsmanship