Pulpit reliefs: 2. Nativity and Annunciation to the Shepherds

The parapet, set between corbelled cornices, is circular, but the statues at the corners, set on projecting, semicircular platforms, define its octagonal plan. On the sides are narrative reliefs with scenes arranged in superimposed strips. The height of the pulpit is very great, and for this reason the buildings and figures are conceived in relation to the viewing point of the spectator not to the plane of relief.

The second panel shows the Nativity and the Annunciation to the Shepherds. In this relief on the pulpit an entire landscape is described in detail. Sheep browse and dogs rest, the shepherds stand, and trees and bushes grow upon a hilly ground plane that is fully visible. This effort to achieve a new, pictorial landscape, all-embracing in its realism, is remarkable.

Suggested listening (streaming mp3, 9 minutes): 13th-century Organum