Basel Minster - St Gallus Doorway

The Basle Minster's St Gallus doorway in the north transept (12th C.), with numerous Romanesque figures showing an archaic severity of style, is one of the oldest figured doorways in German-speaking territory. Between the slender columns on either side of the doorway are four figures, two on each side, identified by their symbols (the ox, the lion, the eagle and the angel) as Luke, Mark, John and Matthew. To right and left of the Evangelists are six tabernacles with representations of the Six Works of Mercy; above them are John the Baptist with the Lamb of God (left) and John the Evangelist; and above these figures again are two angels with the trumpets of the Last Judgment. The tympanum above the doorway depicts the Wise and Foolish Virgins, with Christ enthroned above them as the Judge of the world, flanked by Peter and Paul, who present to him the foundress and the sculptor. The large rose window above the St Gallus doorway symbolizes the Wheel of Fortune. The choir, the lower part of which is Romanesque, has round arches borne on capitals with rich foliage decoration surmounted by figures of animals. In the paving east of the choir are lines showing the plan of a ninth C. external crypt which was discovered in 1947.