Many people around the world celebrate St. George’s Day on April 23, the day of his martyrdom. He’s the patron saint of England, Georgia, and Ethiopia, to name a few countries. He’s revered for his faith, courage, and fortitude.
In the 3rd century, George was born in Cappadocia, a historical region now known as the Central Anatolia Region, in Turkey. He was a Roman officer (equivalent to a colonel) who refused to renounce his Christian faith under Emperor Diocletian’s pagan rule. George’s piety led to his persecution, torture, and beheading around A.D. 303 at Nicomedia near Lydda, Palestine (modern-day Israel).
Pope Gelasius canonized George in 494. He counted George among those “whose names are justly revered among men but whose acts are known only to God.”
Although George was never a knight, many artistic renderings of the saint from the medieval era onwards show him in shining armor slaying a dragon (often the Christian symbol for evil, Satan, or paganism).
The most popular version of the legend of St. George and the Dragon comes from the “Legenda Aurea” (“The Golden Legend”), a collection of 153 hagiographies (biographies of saints) written by Italian chronicler and archbishop of Genoa Jacobus de Voragine between 1250 and 1280.
Printer William Caxton published an English adaptation of the compendium in 1483, based on Voragine’s Latin work and two other translations in French and English.
In Caxton’s version of the legend, a dragon had been tormenting Silene, a town in modern-day Libya. The townsfolk appeased it with sacrificial offerings. George happened upon a princess waiting for the dragon and her certain death. Caxton wrote:
“Thus as [the princess and St. George] spake together the dragon appeared and came running to them, and St. George was upon his horse, and drew out his sword and garnished him with the sign of the cross, and rode hardily against the dragon which came towards him, and smote him with his spear and hurt him sore and threw him to the ground.”
George then told the princess to use her girdle as a leash and lead the wounded dragon into the city of Silene for an audience with the king and townsfolk.
Caxton continued the tale: “Then St. George said to them: Ne doubt ye no thing, without more, believe ye in God, Jesu Christ, and do ye to be baptized and I shall slay the dragon.” After the king and his subjects were baptised, George fulfilled his vow and slew the dragon.
Sweden’s St. George
A spectacular wooden sculpture of “St. George and the Dragon” stands in Storkyrkan (The Great Church) also known as Stockholm Cathedral (the Church of St. Nicholas).Swedish regent Sten Sture the Elder commissioned the sculpture to commemorate his victorious 1471 Battle of Brunkeberg, when he defeated Christian I, king of Norway and Denmark. It was installed in 1489.
At around 12-feet tall, the oak, polychromed sculpture is widely regarded as German sculptor Bernt Notke’s masterpiece. Many skilled hands helped Notke (circa 1440–1509) create this work. In the Middle Ages, artisans worked together in workshops. In Notke’s workshop they created paintings, tapestries, and wooden sculptures—especially altarpieces.
Notke and his workshop captured the moment that George raises his sword to decapitate the dragon. Dynamically carved in wood and embellished with metalwork, George sits astride his rearing steed. He’s just lanced the dragon, which recoils in agony on the ground. The supine dragon screeches out in pain. It steadies itself with one leg, and, in a last-ditch attempt to survive, it tries to pull out the broken lance with its other claw. George holds his sword high above his head as if he’s about to make the final blow.
Notke’s clever placement of the broken lance and the dragon’s claw on the horse’s body support the whole structure.
George’s poise conveys his righteous faith. He’s upright in the saddle with an ethereal gaze that doesn’t falter when faced with imminent danger. Nearby, the princess watches, with her head slightly bowed and her hands in prayer.
The sculpture includes meaningful motifs. Among the horse’s harness pendants are the cross and Sture’s coat of arms featuring three stylized water lilies. A lamb stands behind the princess, symbolizing the sacrificial sheep given to appease the dragon. It’s also the lamb of Christ, representing His sacrifice for humanity.
In addition to the figures, bas-relief sculptures line the plinths. These show scenes of the saint’s life on the “St. George and the Dragon” plinth, and scenes of St. George in Silene on the princess’s plinth. These display the workshop artisans’ superb skills both in carving and storytelling.
Notke’s “St. George and the Dragon” sculpture is the epitome of fine craftsmanship that shows the eternal battle between good and evil.
