Pelicans were golden in early literature as a symbol of sacrificial maternal love. "Mother Pelicans" were depicted with a breast picked open by themselves, which allowed the young to be fed with blood. (See also ‘Symbolism‘). In Carthage his third-century oil lamps decorated with the feeding pelican were found.
The representation of the pelican feeding its young with its own blood and symbolises Christ and his sacrificial death as well as for the resurrection, appeared in the late Middle Ages in the visual arts. The main source underlying it is the Physiologus, a Greek script originating in the second century AD. It contains stories about animals in which nature observation and myth-making mixing with each other. In addition, each animal is given a Christian interpretation. The description of the pelican in the Physiologus begins with a quote from Psalm 102, 6:”I am like a pelican in the desert". The Silk wound of the Pelican is compared in the Physiologus to the Silk wound of the Crucified Christ. From there, according to the , blood and water for the Salvation and eternal life of the children who had rebelled against the Lord who had begotten them.John 19:34, 35). Through this Christian explanation, The Pelican became a widespread symbol in literature and the visual arts for sacrificial devotion and particularly of Christ's sacrificial death, out of love for humanity that had fallen into sin. In medieval crucifixion scenes, the Pelican is often depicted above Christ's head.