Left Door of the West Façade, Assisi Cathedral

12th century
Cathedral of St. Rufinus, Assisi, Italy

The crouching lions at the base of the pilasters represent the dangers of the world that the Christian is leaving as he enters the sacred space. By contrast, the rampant lions in the tympanum are most likely intended to symbolize Christ as "lion of Judah." Just above them is a cross, and just below is a set of symbols linking Christ's death and resurrection. The lamb with the cross represents the former, and the eagles the latter (Duchet-Suchaux, 129).

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Photographed at the cathedral by Richard Stracke, shared under Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license.