A Shift Toward Secularization: The Reliefs of the West Portal of Ulm Minster (1377–1420)

The west portal of Ulm Minster, one of the largest Gothic portals, depicts an elaborate Creation cycle, indicating an intensified interest in the origin of matter and its connection to that which was created out of it, and to humanity, above all. The upper register (out of three) depicts the first days of Creation as narrated in the Book of Genesis – the creation of Light, the Luminaries, and the Fish and Birds, depicted on globes as a platform. The bottom register offers a unique depiction of the Four Elements which is a theory of pagan origin, depicted as four globes. The cycle depicts the first era of humanity, from creation to annihilation when Cain murders Abel (Genesis 1–4). Here, death reflects the return of human beings to earth which is one of the four elements from which they were created. This unusual fourteenth-century Creation cycle encompasses a depiction of Matter from its generation to its decay, reflecting scientific notions which were debated by theologians and natural philosophers during the Middle Ages.