Conservation and Analyses of the Twelfth-Century Bronze Doors made by Oderisius of Benevento in Troia, Italy

In the context of the international GAPAMET project, a study was conducted on European metal doors from the eleventh-twelfth century CE, which were composed of various copper alloys. The aim of the project was to gain deeper insights into the manufacturing processes and subsequent modifications of these doors. Two of them, namely the doors from the cathedral of Troia, Italy, were made by Oderisius of Benevento at the beginning of the twelfth century. In this paper, we present, for the first time, chemical analyses of all the metal parts of the two doors and focus on the restoration of the main door on the cathedral’s façade in the 1990s conducted by one of the authors, which brought to light previously unnoticed remnants of further original panels that had been thought to be lost. Particular attention is paid to rearrangements and the addition of new panels over the course of time, and the usage of different leaded bronze alloys for the production of the various metal parts. Furthermore, we include in our study a discussion of the door handles from Sepino, also associated with Oderisius’ workshop, which were made of leaded bronze and quaternary Cu-Sn-Zn-Pb alloys.

本研究依托国际GAPAMET项目展开，针对公元11至12世纪的欧洲金属门开展研究，这类金属门由多种铜合金制成。该项目的核心目标为深入探析这类金属门的制作工艺与后续改造历程。其中，意大利特罗伊亚大教堂的两扇金属门由贝内文托的奥德里修斯（Oderisius of Benevento）于12世纪初打造。本文首次公布了这两扇金属门全部金属部件的化学成分分析结果，并重点探讨了1990年代由本文作者之一主导的大教堂正门修复工作——此次修复过程中，此前被认为已佚失的多块原门板的未被注意到的残件得以重见天日。研究特别关注了随时间推移发生的门板重新排布与新增情况，以及不同含铅青铜合金在各类金属部件制作中的应用。此外，本研究还探讨了来自塞皮诺（Sepino）的门把手：这类门把手同样关联奥德里修斯工坊，其材质涵盖含铅青铜与四元Cu-Sn-Zn-Pb合金。