Michael A. Stecker
mastecker@gmail.com


 

Main gate to St. John's College at the University of Cambridge
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Built in 1516 by the mason William Swayne. The statue above the door is of St. John the Evangelist the patron saint of the college. The rest of the carvings are the symbols and coat of arms of the Foundress of the college, Lady Margaret Beaufort. Her charges supporting the shield are mythical beasts called yale - chimera with the head of a goat, the body of an antelope and the tail of an elephant. A yales horns were supposed to be able to swivel from back to front which is why they are shown pointing in opposite directions.