The first storey of the fagade was broken in the
centre by the great Puerta del Perdón, an enormous
and very deeply-recessed Gothic arch, which narrowed
as it receded by the gradations of its mouldings,
adorned by statues of apostles, under open-worked
canopies, and by shields emblazoned with lions and
castles. On the pillar dividing the doorway stood
Jesus in kingly crown and mantle, thin and drawn
out» with the look of emaciation and misery that the
imagination of the Middle Ages conceived necessary
for the expression of Divine sublimity. In the tym-
panum a relievo represented the Virgin surrounded by
angels, robed in the habit of St. Ildefonso, a pious
legend repeated in various parts of the building as
though it were one of its chief glories.
On one side was the doorway called "de la Torre," *
on the other side that called "de los Escribanos," * for
by it entered in former days the guardians of public

* Of the Tower.
' Of the Scribes.
4 THE SHADOW OF THE CATHEDRAL

religion to take the oath to fulñl the duties of their
office. Both were enriched with stone statues on the
jambs, and by wreaths of little figures, foliage, and
emblems that unrolled themselves among the mouldings
till they met at the summit of the arch.
