Sts. Luke, John, and the Pelican

Architect: Edward Buckton Lamb

c. 1865

Parish Church of St. Martin

Vicar's Road, London

According to medieval bestiaries — collections of descriptions of real and imaginary animals and interpretations of them as Christian symbols — the pelican feeds her young by piercing her chest and giving them her lifeblood, thus making this bird an allegory of Christ.

Pelican [detail]

Photograph 2009 and text by George P. Landow

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