Lincoln (Lincolnshire)
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This detail from the fine, restored South doorway of the cathedral shows Adam and Eve eating pear or quince shaped fruit of the Tree of Knowledge. Instead of Satan in the form of a serpent, there are two snakes: one has swallowed curly-haired Adam's penis, while the other simply lays its head expectantly on Eve's belly. The connection between this interpretation of the Fall of Man and the Luxuria motif is obvious.
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Part of the famous frieze
recently restored on Lincoln Cathedral, with Hell symbolised as a beast (head
at 90°)
with open jaws swallowing the damned.
Compare with another famous example at Vézelay (Yonne), also featuring
the Weighing of the Souls.
By the time the West Front of Notre-Dame de Paris was sculpted, prudery had
set in (all the damned are clothed)
and the Jaws of Hell had disappeared.
On the Lincoln frieze, however, Jesus is present, for, according to the Gospel,
he descended into Hell,
which event is known as the Harrowing of Hell.
He is shown wearing a crown and standing on the bound body of the conquered
Satan.
On another part of the frieze are the sins of Luxury - note the gold rings
and the very expensive pet dragons.
On the right is not sodomy in the modern sense, but one of the Sins against
Nature:
in this case the Greek affection of a bearded man for a beardless youth.
last two photos by Tina Negus
