The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master’s crib

Christmas of the animals

One of the extraordinary Romanesque reliefs on the west front of Lincoln Cathedral depicts the story of Noah’s Ark, rudely interrupted by a slightly later relief set within a square frame that cuts between the building of the Ark and its launch. In the square frame is ostensibly a depiction of Daniel in the lion’s den; a seated, serene and robed figure …