The Pelican in Her Piety

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The Pelican in her Piety

Menu The Pelican in Her Piety

The Pelican in Her Piety

This mural is to be found on the North wall of St. Mary the Virgin, Belchamp Walter, Essex.

The Pelican and her young are a polular religious and medievil motif. The legend preceeded Christianity and was adopted to represent to symbolize the life of Jesus Christ. It is often featured in alter settings as the blood of the Pelican feeding her young in time of starvation symbolized the blood of Christ in the Eucharist.

The Pelican in Her Piety - Belchamp Walter

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The motif is seen in Medievil artwork and often depicts charity.

Elizabeth I adopted the motif, portraying herself as the "mother of the Church of England".

" The legends of self-wounding and the provision of blood may have arisen because of the impression a pelican sometimes gives that it is stabbing itself with its bill. In reality, it often presses this onto its chest to fully empty the pouch. Another possible derivation is the tendency of the bird to rest with its bill on its breast; the Dalmatian pelican has a blood-red pouch in the early breeding season and this may have contributed to the myth.[4 "

" The heraldic pelican also ended up as a pub name and image, though sometimes with the image of the ship Golden Hind. Sir Francis Drake's famous ship was initially called Pelican, ..... "

Devonchurch

Something seen on a blog post (username as above)

Blood Donation

Background to this page

Having seen this page found by those making an Internet search I have decided to add a bit more context.

The Medieval wall paintings in Belchamp Walter are one of the special features of the parish Church.

The Pelican in Her Piety

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