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As I approached the entrance to Bishop Bernward’s abbey church for the first time since I heard of its completion, I stopped dead in my tracks as I was in total awe of the beautifully decorated, immense doorway. Almost three times my height, the doors were filled with several narrative scenes, each one surprisingly full of life and energy. Having spent my childhood days with the Bishop, I was able to see his potential and watch his artistic skills grow. This, in my opinion, was undoubtedly the zenith of his work. The two doors are divided into sixteen panels. The left door contains eight panels, each depicting a narrative event of the Old Testament, in order from top to bottom. The door on the right is read in the opposite direction, from bottom to top, and is also divided into eight panels. However, each of these panels displays an event of the New Testament. The doors have a very effective, nicely balanced composition. There is a dominant grid-like pattern, which is offset by the circular forms of the two doorknobs. The sixteen rectangular panels are of nearly equal size, and are crowded by many small figures. These figures stand out from the background of each scene by use of several levels of relief. The