Brewer's: Animals in Christian Art

• The ant symbolises prudence
• the ape, malice, lust, and cunning
• the ass, sobriety, or the Jewish nation
• the asp, Christ, or Christian faith
• the bee, industry
• the camel, submission
• the cock, vigilance
• the dog, fidelity
• the fox, fraud and cunning
• the hog, impurity
• the lamb, innocence;
• the leopard, sin
• the ox, pride
• the wolf, cruelty.

Some animals are appropriated to certain saints: as

• the calf or ox to Luke
• the cock to Peter
• the eagle to John the Divine
• the lion to Mark
• the raven to Benedict, etc.

The lamb, the pelican, and the unicorn, are symbols of Christ.

The dragon, serpent, and swine, symbolise Satan and his crew.

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