19th century Stained glass window in St Cuthbert's Chapel on Inner Farne Island Northumberland depicting a pelican in her piety. The Pelican-in-her-Piety is an allegorical depiction of Jesus Christ, in both His sacrificial love and resurrection. In an age when literacy was limited, the image of the Pelican-in-her-Piety would have been recognisable and understood by everyone who saw it and was, in particular, interpreted as being symbolic of the Eucharist.