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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 fifth panel depicts the Massacre of the Innocents. An effect of opposing tensions is created by the densely crowded figures that project at different angles and in different directions, the twisted draperies and the necks bent in sudden movements. The climax of dramatic intensity is reached in the Massacre of the Innocents, where the crude finishing, with clusters of sharp chisel strokes and grooves, echoes the tragedy of the scene.
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