Capital Thirty-two

The narrative scenes on the north and south faces wrap around to the east and west faces.
The adoration of the Magi and the Massacre of the Innocents are important episodes in the birth of Christ from Matthew, who spends a great deal of energy connecting Jesus to Old Testament prophecy.
The Magi story establishes Jesus as a divine figure and a figure of wisdom. By this period, the Magi are fashioned as kings, and Christ is connected with kingship.
The Massacre of the Innocents connects Christ with the story of Moses in Genesis. Just as Moses brings the first Law, so Christ brings the new Law. The massacre also helps fulfill the prophecy of Jeremiah 31:15.
Biblical source: Adoration of the Magi:Matthew 2:1-12.
Massacre of the Innocents: Matthew 2:16-18.

Inscribed: Bethlehem. Jerusalem. Saint Mary (with the Lord?); The Men of the East.

East View: The town of Bethlehem. Inscribed: BETLE[E]M	South View: The Massacre of the Innocents. Uninscribed.
West View: The town of Jerusalem. Inscribed: IHERVSALEM	North View: The Magi adore the Madonna and Child. inscribed: SCA MARIA C R (S[AN]C[T]A MARIA C[UM] R[EGIBUS]) OR[IENS]

DETAILS
South side: Massacre of the Innocents. A woman and her child, and a soldier dispatching an infant.	South side: Massacre of the Innocents. A woman and her child.

Matthew 2:1-12.

¹ Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, saying,
² "Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the East, and have come to worship him."
³ When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him;
⁴ and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born.
⁵ They told him, "In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it is written by the prophet:
⁶'And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for from you shall come a ruler
who wilt govern my people Israel.' "
⁷ Then Herod summoned th wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star appeared;
⁸ and he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, "Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him bring me word, that I too may come and worship him."
⁹ When they had heard the king they went their way; and lo, the star which they had seen in the East went before them, till it came to rest over the place where the child was.
¹⁰ When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy,
¹¹ and going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshipped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh.
¹² And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way.

Matthew 2:16-18.

¹⁶ Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, was in a furious rage, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time which he had ascertained from the wise men.
¹⁷ Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah:
¹⁸ "A voice was heard in Ramah,
wailing and loud lamentation,
Rachel weeping for her children;
she refused to be consoled,
because they were no more."

The New Oxford Annotated Bible with the Apocrypha, Revised Standard Version.
Inscriptions based on Robert Favereau, Jean Michaud, and Bernadette Leplant, Corpus des Inscriptions de la France Medievale. Vol. 8, Ariege, Haute-Garonne, Hautes-Pyrenees, Tarn-et-Garonne. Paris: Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, 1982.