Duplicate – Haiku 2022 #ThursdayDoors

Posted bySuzette BenjaminPosted inPoetry
Restored Original Doors (circa 1200 AD) – Benevento Cathedral, Campania Italy – Image credit: lucamato | istockphoto


“old sins cast shadows”

restoration, duplicate keys

unlocking truth light

****

Few original cathedral bronze doors in Italy have received as much international public attention (excluding the Vatican City’s holy doors, of course), as these doors featured above.

First brought onto the world stage by an article in Time Magazine (see below), these original bronze doors of Duomo di Benevento; Cattedrale Metropolitana di Santa Maria de Episcopio (Benevento Cathedral) suffered considerable damage from an Allied forces’ bomb blast during World War II (1943). The bronze doors were the victims of collateral damage when a bomb meant for a nearby bridge, missed its mark.

Benevento Cathedral Bronze door fragments after WWII damage. Image credit: ©Time Magazine Vol 17- No.4

Benevento Cathedral, Campania Italy, was almost completely destroyed in the blast; however, its reconstruction began immediately after the dust settled. Finally completed in the 1960s the cathedral was restored to its original 8th-century style and 14th-century enhancements.

But not so these bronze doors. Their remains lay cloistered away in a sealed box inside the Cathedral’s library for decades.

Then, in 1990, having successfully negotiated the lengthy hoops instituted to erase the doors’ remains from public/scholarly memory, restoration expert, Sergio Angelucci obtained access to them.

Angelucci spent seven years of painstaking work, restoring the salvaged parts of the original 3.5 meters wide by 5 meters high (11.4 X 16 feet) doors adorned with 72 raised bronze reliefs (circa 1200 AD).

Finally, in 1997 the restored bronze doors were placed on permanent display inside the cathedral’s atrium under lights.

Closeup of the restored doors below. Their top segments feature the New Testament narrative of the life of Christ:

Original restored door Benevento Cathedral, Campania. Image credit: Maria Franchini via gettalarete.it

A few years later in 2012, a copy of the restored bronze doors was cast and installed as Benevento Cathedral’s main entrance (see photo below.)

Copy of restored bronze doors, Main Entrance Benevento Cathedral – Image credit: lucamato | istockphoto

Trivia and *bonus “door” for this week: Benevento was originally the most populous city in Southern Italy during the height of the Roman Empire. Its perhaps best-known monument, Trajan’s Arch was the Via Traiana doorway/extension to the historic Via Appia (Roman highway).

Below, the remarkably well-preserved, Trajan’s Arch, Benevento, Campania Italy (circa 114 – 117 AD):

Trajan’s Arch, Benevento, Campania, Italy. Image credit: © Milosk50 | Dreamstime

Wider angle Benevento Cathedral, below:

Benevento Cathedral, Campania Italy – Image Credit: Photo © Morellir | Dreamstime

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Written for Dan Antion @ No Facilities – #ThursdayDoors

Published by Suzette Benjamin

Positive thinker, inspirational, writer, faith

55 thoughts on “Duplicate – Haiku 2022 #ThursdayDoors”

  4. Your beautiful poem highlights the unrelenting effort to restore these doors and to give this cathedral its entrance back. Duplicates or not, those doors are beautiful. The world owes a debt to Sergio Angelucci. Thanks for sharing this with us, and thanks for the bonus photos !

    Liked by 3 people

  12. It’s so true that restoration and rejuvenation lies within the unlocking, exposing shadows to the light. A difficult job, at times, yet one that is rewarded through the visceral experience, and the result. Oh, and the post is marvelous, I love “doors day”. 😊

    Liked by 3 people

    1. An exquisite reflection, my friend. So true. Unburdening from those shadows’ yoke is a powerful freedom, indeed. I like your words in this context– “the visceral experience!” Yes.
      And, I am glad you enjoy the doors day
      Thank you

      Liked by 2 people

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