The pigeon

 

The pigeon

The pigeon

The pigeon is honest because it stays loyal to its partner even after death.  It symbolises loyalty and marriage, and at the same time, as with all winged animals, spirituality, it represents the sublimation of instincts, elevation, transcendence and the release of the earth.
It is one of the most used symbols by the Church to represent the Holy Spirit (in the paintings of Sorpe and those of Estaon), Jesus Christ, the Church, the faithful and the soul of the innocent.  It would also be one of the emblems of the Mother of God.  As an image of purity, it appears is scenes such as that of the presentation of Jesus to the temple or the offering of Saint Joseph of four white doves to the temple that appears on the altar frontal of Mosoll.
The Eucharistic Pigeon that you can see on a liturgical base that served to keep the consecrated wafers and between each mass was hung above the altar with a system of chains. It is constructed with sheets of copper and the golden body is engraved with a theme which aims to reproduce the short feathers.  The wings and the tail are enamelled in blue, green, red and yellow.  The pigeon affirms itself in this way as a liturgical symbol representing Christ who is mysteriously reincarnated in the Eucharist.   
On other occasions, as when it grows up it fights and expels the father from the nest so as to mate with the mother, it represents lust and for this reason in some medieval manuscripts it appears in the hand of a woman, who embodies lust.