Birth in Bethlehem

Birth in Bethlehem

The depiction of the Virgin Mary as a mother emphasized her maternal role and highlighted the human nature of Christ. This was significant in the face of heresies denying either the divinity or humanity of Jesus (such as Monophysitism and Docetism). Jesus, wrapped in swaddling clothes and bound with cross-shaped bands, lies in a stone manger resembling an early Romanesque altar. The cruciform nimbus around His head signifies His divinity and foreshadows His future sacrifice on the cross.

The Child in the manger is the divine king who enters the poverty of the world to rescue and save it. Next to Him stand an ox and a donkey, warming Jesus with their breath, as described in the apocryphal Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew: “On the third day after his birth, the Virgin Mary went out from the cave and entered a stable. She placed the child in a manger, and the ox and the donkey adored him.

Thus was fulfilled what was said by the prophet Isaiah: ‘The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master’s manger.’ The animals surrounded the child and continually adored him. Then were fulfilled the words of the prophet Habakkuk: ‘You will appear in the midst of the beasts.'” (Ps Mt XIV).

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.