Psychomachia

Psychomachia

The panel depicting a scene resembling the triumph of warriors on a tournament field is identified as the Victory of Virtues over Vices. The most significant influence on the depiction of the battle between vices and virtues was the epic “Psychomachia” by the Roman poet from Spain, Prudentius (Aurelius Prudentius Clemens, c. 348-c. 405).

Płock Doors

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. A monument of Romanesque art, the original doors are currently in the western portal of St. Sophia Cathedral in Novgorod the Great, Russia, while a bronze cast (replica) has been in the Płock Cathedral since 1982.

Research indicates that the doors were likely in Płock for about 250 years before adorning St. Sophia Cathedral in Novgorod the Great in Rus. It is unknown how the doors ended up in Novgorod. According to a 15th-century legend, they were brought from Byzantium by Prince Vladimir the Great through Korsun in Crimea (hence the name Korsun doors), which is not possible.

Some historical hypotheses suggest they were plundered in the 13th century by the Lithuanians during their raid on Mazovia. Other historians believe they were a gift from the Polish clergy or Płock princes to Prince of Novgorod, Lingwen Olgierdowicz, brother of Władysław II Jagiełło. According to some sources, they arrived in Novgorod as early as 1170, soon after their creation, 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, 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 doors for the Płock Cathedral were commissioned by Bishop Alexander of Malonne (d. 1156). Master Riquin, with assistant Waismut, cast them in bronze using the lost-wax technique between 1152-1154 in one of the Magdeburg foundries. It is uncertain if it belonged to the local fabrica ecclesiae, operating at the cathedral, managed by Bishop Wichmann von Seeburg (c. 1110-1192).

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