The reading of the calendar should begin there (_photo above_). _December._ The peasant kills his pig for the feasts at the end of the year. _January._ He is seated at a well supplied table. _February._ He warms himself at the fire. _March._ Work begins again in the fields; tilling the soil. _April._ Pruning the vines. _May._ The peasant rests before the labours of Summer. The calendar terminates on the left-hand side of the basement. The tympanum (_photo p. 17_) depicts the history of the relics of St. Firmin: 1st portion: Six bishops seated. 2nd portion: Discovery of the body of St. Firmin by the bishop St. Sauve. 3rd portion: Solemn translation of the relics. Statues of angels appear on the borders of the arches. [Illustration: TYMPANUM OF ST. FIRMIN'S DOOR. LIFE OF ST. FIRMIN.] South Lateral Façade At the foot of the south tower is St. Christopher's door (_plan p. 22_), and to the right a statue of this saint carrying the child Jesus on his shoulder. The buttresses separating the lofty, broad windows of the chapels of the nave, added in the 14th century, are decorated with superposed statues. The gable of the south transept (_photo opposite_) is remarkable. The upper portion of the great rose window is surrounded by a "wheel of fortune" (14th century). On one side eight beardless youths climb up the wheel, while on the other side eight old men with beards descend with it. In the middle is seated a figure with crown and sceptre. [Illustration: GABLE OF SOUTH TRANSEPT. (_facing the Rue Robert de Luzarches_).] [Illustration: DIVIDING PILLAR OF SOUTH DOORWAY. (_facing the Rue Robert de Luzarches_). THE "GILDED VIRGIN"] Doorway of the South Transept (_"Gilded Virgin" Door_) This door was dedicated to the saints of Picardy, but especially to St. Honoré, who was one of the first bishops of Amiens. It is also sometimes called the St. Honoré Door. The statuary dates back to the end of the 13th century, with the exception of the large statues on the jambs, which were executed at the time the doorway was built, _i.e._, about 1230. These eight statues represent six saints and two angels. On the dividing pillar is the celebrated statue of the Gilded Virgin (_photo above_) standing with the Child Jesus on her left arm, on which side the hip slightly protrudes. It is one of the earliest examples of this _irregularity of outline_, and was destined to inspire the Virgins of the 14th and 15th centuries, in which this characteristic became increasingly marked. A comparison of this statue with that of the south door of the west façade (_photo p. 14_), furnishes a striking example of the evolution which statuary had undergone in three-quarters of a century. The Gilded Virgin (end of 13th century) is represented as a gracious young mother tenderly regarding her child, while the "Mother-of-God" gravely bears the "King of the World." * * * * *