Maiestas Domini

The Panel of the Płock Door depicts Christ’s participation in the glory of God. Christ holds the Gospel book in His left hand and blesses with His right hand. The enthroned Savior is surrounded by a radiant mandorla, supported by angels. The inscription “DOMINUS VIRTUTUM” identifies them as the Hosts.

Together with other angels, they create the image of the Great Mystery of the Heavenly Liturgy, in which the Mysteries of the Incarnation, Redemption, and Glory of Christ—the Divine Messiah and Savior of the World—are revealed. A paraphrase of the 6th-century Apostles’ Creed comments on this article: “And as He ascended into heaven, so shall He come again to judge the living and the dead. He who came in gentleness will return with great fear. The righteous love this return of His judgment, for they will receive the kingdom; but the unrighteous fear it, for they will be cast into eternal fire…” The panel contains a symbolic, not narrative, concept of the Last Judgment.

The Płock Doors, also known as the Magdeburg, Korsun, or Sigtuna Doors (Russian: Магдебургские врата), are bronze doors once located in the Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Płock. This Romanesque art monument is now housed in the western portal of St. Sophia’s Cathedral in Novgorod the Great, Russia, while a cast (copy) has been in the Płock Cathedral since 1982.

Research suggests that the Doors were in Płock for about 250 years before adorning St. Sophia’s Cathedral in Novgorod the Great in Russia. It is unknown how the Doors ended up in Novgorod. According to a 15th-century legend, Prince Vladimir the Great brought them from Byzantium via Korsun in Crimea (hence the name Korsun Doors), though this is not feasible.

Some historical hypotheses suggest they were stolen in the 13th century by Lithuanians during their raid on Masovia. Other historians argue that they were given as a gift by Polish clergy or the Dukes of Płock to Prince Lingwen Olgierdowicz of Novgorod, brother of Władysław II Jagiełło. Some sources state they arrived in Novgorod around 1170, shortly after their creation, while others believe it was before the mid-15th century. According to Friedrich von Adelung’s 1823 version, the Doors were a military trophy of the Novgorodians (specifically Karelians, Estonians, Izhorians, 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 Płock Cathedral doors were commissioned by Bishop Alexander of Malonne (d. 1156). Master Riquin, along with his assistant Waismuth, cast them in bronze using the lost-wax technique between 1152-1154 in one of the foundries in Magdeburg. It is uncertain whether this foundry belonged to the local fabrica ecclesiae, operated by the cathedral under Bishop Wichmann von Seeburg (c. 1110-1192).

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