Capital Sixty-one

These two apparently unrelated scenes of Daniel in the Lions' Den and the Annunciation to the Shepherds are shown together because this Daniel episode served as a popular prefiguration type for the Resurrection of Christ.
Daniel is also shown on capital 48, as the apocryphal tale of Habakkuk.

Inscribed: Lion/Lion; Daniel in the lions' den; Angels, Shepherds, donkey, cattle; Shepherds; grove (?), goats/goats

Biblical source: Daniel in the lions' den:Daniel 6:1-28
Annunciation to the Shepherds: Luke 2:8-20

East View: Animals of the flock- donkey and goat.
Inscribed: SISVA CABRAS CABRAS

West View: The shepherd as orant.
Inscribed: PASTORES

South face inscribed: south: ANGELI PASTO[RE]S ASI[NVS] BOVES
North face inscribed: DANIELE[M] : M[ISERUNT IN] LACV[M] LEONIS

DETAILS
Detail: North view: Daniel.	Detail: South view: angel.

Daniel 6:1-28

¹ It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom a hundred and twenty satraps, to be throughout the whole;
² and over them three presidents, of whom Daniel was one, to whom these satraps should give account, so that the king might suffer no loss.
³ Then this Daniel became distinguished above all other presidents and satraps, because an excellent spirit was in him; and the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom.
⁴ Then the presidents and the satraps sought to find ground for complaint against Daniel with regard to the kingdom; but they could find no ground for complaint or any fault, because he was faithful, and no error or fault was found in him.
⁵ Then these men said, "We shall not find any ground for complaint against this Daniel unless we find it in connection with the law of his God."
⁶ Then these presidents and satraps came by agreement to the king and said to him, "o King Darius, live for ever!
⁷ All the presidents of the kingdom, the prefects and the satraps, the counselors and the governors are agreed that the king should establish an ordinance and enforce an interdict, that whoever makes petition to any god or man for thirty days, except to you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions.
⁸ Now, O king, establish the interdict and sign the document, so that it cannot be changed, according to the law of the Medes and the Persians, which cannot be revoked."
⁹ Therefore King Darius signed the document and interdict.
¹⁰ When Daniel knew that the document had been signed, he went to his house where he had windows in his upper chamber open toward Jerusalem; and he got down upon his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before God, as he had done previously.
¹¹ then these men came by agreement and found Daniel making petition and supplication before his God.
¹² Then they came near and said before the king, concerning the interdict, "O king! Did you not sign an interdict, that any man who makes petition to any god or man within thirty days except to you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions?" The king answered, "The thing stands fast, according to the law of the Medes and the persians, which cannot be revoked."
¹³ Then they answered before the king, "That Daniel, who is one of the exiles from Judah, pays no heed to you, O king, or to the interdict you have signed, but makes petition three times a day."
¹⁴ Then the king, when he heard these words, was much distressed, and set his mind to deliver Daniel; and he labored till the sun went down to rescue him.
¹⁵ Then these men came by agreement to the king, and said to the king, "Know, O king, that it is a law of the Medes and the Persians that no interdict or ordinance which the king establishes can be changed."
¹⁶ Then the king commanded, and Daniel was brought and cast into the den of lions. The king said to Daniel, "May your God, whom you serve continually, deliver you!"
¹⁷ And a stone was brought and laid upon the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his own signet and with the signet of his lords, that nothing might be changed concerning Daniel.
¹⁸ Then the king went to his palace, and spent the night fasting; no diversions were brought to him, and sleep fled from him.
¹⁹ Then, at break of day, the king arose and went in haste to the den of lions.
²⁰ When he came near to the den where Daniel was, he cried out in a tone of anguish and said to Daniel, "O Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to deliver you from the lions?"
²¹ Then Daniel said to the king, "O king, live for ever!
²² My God sent his angel and shut the lions' mouths, and they have not hurt me, because I was found blameless before him; and also before you, O king, I have done no wrong."
²³ Then the king was exceedingly glad, and commanded that Daniel be taken up out of the den, and no kind of hurt was found upon him, because he had trusted in his God.
²⁴ And the king commanded, and those men who had accused Daniel were brought and cast into the den of lions-- they, their children, and their wives; and before they reached the bottom of the den the lions overpowered them and broke all their bones to pieces.
²⁵ Then King Darius wrote to all the peoples, nations, and languages that dwell upon the earth: "Peace be multiplied to you.
²⁶ I make a decree, that in all my royal dominion men tremble and fear before the God of Daniel,
for he is the living God, enduring for ever;
his kingdom shall never be destroyed,
and his dominion shall be to the end.
²⁷ He delivers and rescues,
he works signs and wonders in heaven and on earth,
he who has saved Daniel from the power of the lions."
²⁸ So this Daniel prospered during the reign of Darius and the reign of Cyrus the Persian.

Luke 2:8-20

⁸ And in that region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.
⁹ And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear.
¹⁰ And the angel said to them, "Be not afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will come to all the people;
¹¹ for to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
¹² And this will be a sign for you: you will find a babe wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger."
¹³ And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,
¹⁴ "Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace among men with whom he is pleased!"
¹⁵ When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us."
¹⁶ And they went in haste, and found Mary and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.
¹⁷ And when they saw it they made known the saying which had been told them concerning this child;
¹⁸ and all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them.
¹⁹ But Mary kept all these things, pondering them in her heart.
²⁰ And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as i had been told them.

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.