GAPAMET

The GAPAMET project was funded by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF), project no. P 34477-G (“Gates to Paradise: Creating metal doors for 11th-12th century churches”; head of project: Marianne Mödlinger). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish (online and/or scientific papers). There has been no additional external funding received for this study. The project is located at the IMAREAL (Institut für Realienkunde des Mittelalters und der frühen Neuzeit) in Krems, Austria.

Aims and Objectives

The project identifies materials used and technologies applied for the construction of 11th-12th century metal doors of European churches and sheds light on how these choices are connected to the iconography and semantic of specific scenes by using an interdisciplinary approach including history, art history, and archaeometry, and by creating new analytical data. The main objectives of the project are to:

  • Characterise techniques and material used in the construction of the metal doors;
  • Identify artists, and their alloys and techniques used;
  • Detect connections between the choice, semantic and iconology of material and techniques used.

Methods

The project uses published historical and archaeological data and generates new analytical data on metal doors from 11th and 12th century European churches. On-site analyses include non-invasive chemical analyses using a handheld XRF instrument, and complete high-resolution photographic documentation of the doors. Micro-samples of metal, inlay and corrosion, examined by SEM-EDXS and optical microscopy, provide further information on the materials and treatments used. The wooden parts of the doors are examined by dendrochronological analysis. All these analyses, combined with art historical evaluation, allow the visualisation of networks of material knowledge: properties, affordance and material iconology in pictorial systems.

Level of originality

For the first time, ecclesiastical metal doors from the 11th-12th century and their various components are fully chemically characterised and their manufacturing technique identified by non-invasive and micro-invasive analyses. This will make it possible to identify the traditions of the artists involved in the construction of the doors and will also facilitate the association of doors with specific artists. Furthermore, the date of construction will be verified by combined dendrochronological and radiocarbon analyses. These analyses will provide a holistic picture of the state of preservation of the doors and insights into historical conservation work. All new data obtained during the project will be made fully available to the public via open access publications and online repositories of the host institution. 

Open Access to analytical data and photographic documentation

All the data obtained during the project, namely chemical analyses by portable XRF (more than 8,800 to date) and photographic documentation of the doors, as well as selected 3D models of the doors, will be made available in the following open-access database https://gapamet.imareal.sbg.ac.at/en and published through several publications (see below). 

Publications

in preparation

  1. Studies of the inlay of the 11th-12th centuries Byzantine doors from Saint Mark, Venice
  2. Casting monumental bronzes in Central Europe in the High Middle Ages: the doors of Hildesheim, Mainz, Augsburg
  3. Casting mediaeval monumental bronzes: the 11th century door from Hildesheim, Germany
  4. Chemometrics opens new doors: the case of mediaeval bronze doors

submitted

  1. Mödlinger M., Węcławowicz T., Asmus B., Fera M., Utz J., Ghiara G. New aspects on the manufacture of the 12th century bronze doors from Gniezno, Poland, Studia Źródłoznawcze. Commentationes 

published

  1. Edited volume: Utz, J., Fera, M., Mödlinger, M., Schlie, H. (eds). Gates to Paradise: Metal doors of the 11th–12th century (Schnell & Steiner, Regensburg 2025). 
  2. Book chapter: Mödlinger, M., Ghiara, G., Preliminary Results of the Chemical Analyses of Selected Bronze Doors from the Eleventh-Twelfth Century, in: Utz, J., Fera, M., Mödlinger, M., Schlie, H. (eds). Gates to Paradise: Metal doors of the 11th–12th century (Schnell & Steiner, Regensburg 2025), 175-195.
  3. Mödlinger, M., Milone, A., Fera, M., Usai, C., Utz, J. Conservation and analyses of the 12th century bronze doors from Oderisius of Benevento in Troia, Italy, Studies in Conservation, 2025, 1–22. doi: 10.1080/00393630.2025.2491248
  4. Mödlinger, M., Fera, M., Utz,J., Non-Invasive Chemical Analyses on Byzantine Copper Alloy Doors in 11th and 12th Century Italy, STAR: Science & Technology of Archaeological Research 11(1), 2025. doi: 1080/20548923.2025.2478642
  5. Mödlinger, M., Asmus, B., Fera, M., Utz, J., Ghiara, G. The 12th century bronze doors of Barisanus of Trani in Trani, Ravello and Monreale PLOS ONE 20(3), 2025: e0319697. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0319697
  6. Asmus, B., Fera, M., Mödlinger, M. Deconstructing Barisanus’ Medieval Casting Technology based on digital twins, Scientific Reports 15, 7419, 2025 doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-91168-9
  7. Mödlinger, M., Fera, M., Utz,J., Chemical analyses of the 5th and 12th centuries metal doors in the Lateran, Rome, Archaeological and Anthropological Science 2025, doi: 10.1007/s12520-025-02165-y
  8. Mödlinger, M., Bassi, M., Bontadi, J., Fellin, M., Fera, M., Negri, M., Usai, C., Utz, J., Ghiara, G. The 12th century bronze doors of Bonanno di Pisa in Monreale and Pisa: materials and manufacture, Journal of Archaeological Science 174, 2025: 106130. doi: 10.1016/j.jas.2024.106130
  9. Mödlinger, M., Bontadi, J., Fellin, M.; Fera, M.; Negri, M., Utz, J., Ghiara, G. The medieval Bronze Doors of San Zeno, Verona: combining material analyses and art history, Heritage Science 12, 2024: 26. doi: 10.1186/s40494-024-01143-2
  10. Mödlinger, M., Bernabei, M., Bontadi, J., Fellin, M., Fera, M., Ghiara, G., Negri, M., Utz, J. Multidisciplinary Analyses on the 11th-12th century Bronze Doors of San Marco, Venice. PLOS ONE 18/7, 2023: e0288094. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0288094
  11. Makhortykh, S., Mödlinger, M., Utz, J. The Byzantine Doors of the St Sophia Cathedral in Novgorod, Russia, Concilium medii aevi (CMA) 25, 2023, 25–45. [no peer-review] (download)
  12. Makhortykh, S., Mödlinger, M., Utz, J. The 12th century Magdeburg bronze doors in Novgorod: an overview of Russian research, Kunstgeschichte: E-Journal 2023:605, urn:nbn:de:bvb:355-kuge-605-0.