Basle troops marching out through the Spalentor

Description

Originally set above a glass painting that is now missing, this small stained glass picture, delicately painted in silver stain and black, depicts Basle troops marching out through the Spalentor. Fired by the fanfare blasts of the town trumpeter, the infantry leave the town in their armour with halberds, crossbows and pikes, led by a standard bearer and a vanguard of armed horsemen. The detailed reproduction of the external facade of the city gate with the date of building shown as 1398 and of its rich sculptural decoration (including a Madonna flanked by two Prophets) makes the fragment an important early source for architectural research. While the soldiers' armour and weapons and the absence of the buildings that were added in front of the gate in 1474 suggest an early dating, the year 1510 displayed on a banner, alluding to the Chiasso campaign, and the style of the painting indicate the second half of the C16. Probably a picture dating from the mid C15 was used as a model for the historicising scene.