Masterpiece: The Portico of Glory, A Wondrous Welcome in Spain
This 12th Century Gateway to The Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, at the end of the famed pilgrimage, is carved with more than 200 figures from the Bible

For centuries, when pilgrims finished their long, exhausting walk to the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in northwest Spain, where the remains of St. James the Great are said to rest, their eyes frequently lighted first on the Portico of Glory (1168-88). A wondrous triple-arched gateway carved with more than 200 figures from the Old and New Testaments, it welcomed them into the nave, just as Ferdinand II of León intended when he commissioned the design of a fine porch and portal opposite the cathedral's main altar.

Ferdinand chose a young artist now known only as Master Mateo (active 1168 to about 1217), and the marvel he created must have stunned everyone. His intricate, polychromed entrance, which weaves together biblical stories from Adam and Eve to the Final Judgment, is considered to be one of Europe's most important Romanesque sculptures. As time passed, the Romanesque cathedral was expanded and altered, and in the 18th century, the Portico was encased behind a baroque façade, protecting it from the elements. Today this monumental arched entry is accessible only from the inside.

St. James (detail)

Much about Mateo remains obscure, but art historians believe he worked on other projects along the most popular route of the Camino de Santiago, which begins in France and runs for nearly 500 miles across northern Spain to the cathedral. He showed some familiarity with the early Gothic style then developing in France, and may have spent time there. But he forged his own style and must have been accomplished to gain such an important commission from Ferdinand, who also asked him, along with his workshop of assistants, to finish other aspects of the cathedral.

Mateo introduced a few innovative architectural details in the Portico (a complex crypt; elevated column bases), but it is his grand, dramatic design and naturalistic sculptures that have inspired generations of Spanish artists and kept his name alive. At the Portico's center, helping to support the semicircular tympanum of the wide main arch, Mateo placed a narrow mullion. Its base depicts a bearded figure (the identifying inscription has worn away) embracing two lions, whose open-jaws ingeniously channel air to the crypt. On the mullion's shaft, Mateo carved the Tree of Jesse, representing for the first time on the Iberian Peninsula the human genealogy of Jesus from King David's father to Mary. Above it, the capital is carved with the Holy Trinity, manifesting Christ's divine lineage.

The Apostles

Directly above, St. James sits, holding a crosier and a scroll that reads (in Latin) "the Lord sent me," asserting the undocumented belief that James preached in Spain. With a wide forehead, friendly eyes and high cheekbones, he looks benevolently toward entering pilgrims.

Above James, in the tympanum, Mateo created a majestic figure of Jesus as the Redeemer, both displaying the wounds from his Crucifixion and simultaneously symbolizing his triumph over death. Christ is surrounded by the four evangelists and by angels and then, wreathed around the arch's perimeter, by the 24 elders, each with a musical instrument, mentioned in Revelation, which inspired this tableau.

Two side arches also tell stories: On the left, Christ descends into Limbo, redeeming those who died before he was made man; on the right, Christ separates the saved from the damned with St. Michael the Archangel, who traditionally helps weigh the merits of each person's life on earth.

Musicians of Revelation

The arches rest on two broad circular pillars, segmented horizontally like the mullion. In the base are beasts, mostly: bears, wolves and fantastical creatures on the left, and on the right more animals and (probably) Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon who ruled over man and beasts. At the top, aligning with St. James in the mullion, Mateo carved Old Testament prophets on the left and Apostles on the right. In between are columns, some smooth, some decorated with leaves, rosettes and the like.

As Mateo worked, lacing his piece with more biblical references, his artistry evolved. The faces on his figures grew more realistic and livelier. Among the prophets, an elderly Moses, full-bearded, casts his eyes down at the tablets of the Ten Commandments he carries, looking stern; Daniel, young, curly haired and clean-shaven, smiles with his eyes as well as his mouth, emitting a buoyant spirit. Like Moses, Isaiah has a furrowed brow. The Apostles opposite them are likewise individualized, with a youthful St. John the Evangelist being the most expressive. The deep draping of all of their garments suggests movement and rhythm.

Daniel, with Jeremiah on left

Over the years, some of the Portico's details and polychrome suffered from damp and exposure. In a 10-year restoration begun in 2008, conservators cleaned away the dust and dirt, recovered some original color, repainted other areas and created a drier, more stable environment for the Portico.

Mateo seemed to recognize the importance of his master work. At the base of the mullion's back, facing the altar, he sculpted an image of himself, kneeling, with his right hand to his heart, and holding a cartouche in his left hand. The inscription is unreadable, but by tradition it proclaimed him as the architect of a work he was honored to present to St. James—and to God himself.