Date: 16th century
Making place: School of Novgorod (Russia)
Materials and technics: Tempera and gold on wood
Dimensions: H. 165 x w. 137 cm
Inventory number: PPP4907
Acquisition details: Roger Cabal bequest, 1998
Room: 41
Honoured throughout the Christian world, Saint George is one of the most frequently depicted saints in Orthodox painting. As a Megalomartyr (from the Greek “great martyr”), he is most often portrayed as a warrior saint slaying the dragon, sometimes surrounded with scenes from his life, as in this exceptionally large hagiographic icon.
Mounted on a white horse, the elegant young warrior with short curly hair is nimbly planting his lance in the dragon’s head as it emerges from the water. The monster is being held on a leash by the Princess who was meant to be given to it. At the top of the tower, the King and the Queen are watching the scene from a window, as are an army of powerless soldiers, some on the roof and some inside. An angel, emerging from the clouds, is heading towards the saint to give him the victor’s crown.
The central section is surrounded by twenty episodes from the life of Saint George, devoted in particular to the temptations to which he was subjected and the torture he suffered on the orders of Diocletian, until his last ordeal, decapitation.
R. Z.
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