Minneapolis Institute of Art

Saint George and the Dragon

Master AG

Date

c. 1480–90

Medium

Engraving

Department

European Art

Institution

Minneapolis Institute of Art

One day a soldier named George was riding through the Libyan countryside, when he came upon a horrible scene. A dragon was about to devour a young princess who had been sacrificed by her community to placate the beast. Dismissing her warnings, he gestured the sign of the cross, stopping the dragon in its tracks. Next, George charged, injuring the dragon with his lance. He then asked the princess for her belt and used it to fashion a leash for the now tamed monster. George, possibly a Greek Christian soldier in the Roman army around the year 300 CE, was well established as a saint within a century of his execution for refusing to recant his faith. Hundreds of years later, the dragon legend was added to his biography. Germany, Europe

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