St. George And The Dragon

In 1506, Raphael (1483 – 1520) painted St. George and the Dragon (oil on panel, 28.5 x 21.5 cm, National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.) (Figure 1). He was born in Urbino, Italy and this is where he studied and worked, until moving to Florence, Italy in 1504. Florence was “the center of art and creativity at the time” (ARTSnFOOD, Atkinson), so this was the perfect place for Raphael to really get his career started. At only 23 years old, while living in Florence, Raphael painted this dramatic scene from the legend of St. George and the Dragon. The story of St. George and the Dragon was first popular in medieval Europe. St. George was a Roman knight, of Christian faith, born in modern day Turkey. He killed an evil dragon to rescue a princess
The scene pictures a brave knight in shiny armor, who is known to be St. George, in the center. His cape is freely flowing behind him. There is a ribbon around his calf that reads “honi”, which is the opening phrase of the English Order of the Garter: “Honi soit que mal y pense” (National Gallery of Art). This means disgraced by he who thinks evil of it. He is thrusting his lance downward as he is attempting to pin the dragon to the ground. The vicious, monstrous dragon has grabbed the lance with one paw and his neck is twisted towards the knight. It appears that the dragon has just come out of the dark, ominous lair in the rocks to the left. The majestic, white horse the knight is riding is mid-gallop. His front legs are rearing up in the air above the dragon, as if they are about to come down and crush the dragon. The dragon’s dark body contrasts the white body of the horse, with the colors seemingly representing good and evil. The horse’s head is turned back towards the viewer, making eye contact. The horse’s face is very animated and appears to have a very pleasant, almost happy expression. The knight’s face, in comparison, appears to be frozen with little or no life. In the background to the right is the princess, who portrays a “damsel in
One of the most obvious influences, and possibly the painting that “first drew the younger artist to Florence” (National Gallery of Art), was Leonardo Da Vinci’s cartoon sketch for the fresco of the Battle of Anghiari (Figure 6). There are resemblances in the rearing horses that are fighting in the battle scene to the horse St. George is riding. Also, several of the warriors fighting have flowing capes, similar to that of St. George’s. Not only that, but Da Vinci’s sketches of a horse (Figure 4) and a dragon (Figure 5), have uncanny resemblance to those in Raphael’s painting. Raphael’s horse with its raised front legs and twirling tail, shows many parallels to the rearing horse in Da Vinci’s sketch. Also, both Raphael’s and Da Vinci’s dragon are fairly skinny, with a long slithery tail like a snake. On top of that, the dragon’s both have pointed wings and a mouth open wide, revealing sharp teeth. Raphael was clearly inspired by Da Vinci’s sketches and admired his work as an