by way of contrast to the second Adam, by whom we enter into Heaven, we sometimes, especially in Norman churches, have the Forbidden Tree, with Adam and Eve in the tympanum: setting forth the one man by whom sin entered into the world. The Crucifixion seldom occurs over doors: while over porches a crucifix is very common. The cause of the difference is explained by a consideration that the former are shut, the latter open: and 'when Thou hadst overcome the sharpness of Death, Thou didst _open_ the kingdom of heaven to all believers.' Indeed it may almost be asserted that a crucifix is never seen over a {c} closed door, except where it forms a part of the usual representation of the Trinity. For the Trinity is also, in Norman churches, there represented: and that not inappropriately: inasmuch as the Trinity is the beginning of all things. A Holy Lamb is sometimes found in Norman tympana: as saith the Saviour, _I am the door of the sheep_. A hasty glance at Durandus [Footnote 60] might lead us to imagine that we should find the Apostles set forth under the similitude of doors: but he there probably refers to the well-known passage in the Apocalypse. Apoc. xxi, 14. [Footnote 60: Durand. i, 26.] This however leads us to another, and that a totally different, meaning attached to doors. We have already noticed the fact, that many Norman and Early English mouldings refer to various kinds of martyrdom: those which do so occur more frequently on doors than anywhere else; for it is written, 'We must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.' And here we may observe a very curious and beautiful progression in symbolism. In the early ages of Christianity, it was a matter requiring no small courage to make an open profession of Christianity, to join one's self to the Church Militant:--and this fact has left its impress in the various representations of martyrdom surrounding the nave-doors of Norman and the first stage of Early English churches: as well as in the frightful forms which seem to deter those who would enter. But in process of time, as the world became evangelised, to be a member of the visible Church was an easy matter: the difficulty was transferred from an entrance into _that_, to the so living, as to have part in the Communion of Saints:--in other words, to an entrance into the Church Triumphant. And therefore in late Early English, and Decorated, the symbols which had occupied the nave-doors in the former period, are now transferred to the chancel arch. {ci}