St. George Slaying the Dragon

Painting

-

Purdue University Galleries

Name/Title

St. George Slaying the Dragon

Entry/Object ID

2005.02.047

Description

Tempera on curved wood panel with red, green, then brown border/background. The top border has two black Cyrillic captions on either side of Christ's figure in the clouds with blue and red robes holding a blue orb. Below him, Saint George sits atop a white horse and wears a red cloak, blue tunic, and gold fish scale like armor. He slays a green dragon with a orange head and back ridge with a long black staff. A woman in green tunic over a white dress with red fur trimmed cape stands in the back right in front of a brick castle with both hands in the air.

Type of Painting

Panel

Artwork Details

Medium

Tempera

Collection

Betsy Scheuring Icon Collection

Acquisition

Accession

2005.02

Source or Donor

Betsy Scheuring

Acquisition Method

Gift

Credit Line

Gift of Betsy Scheuring

Made/Created

Place

Country

Russia

Inscription/Signature/Marks

Type

Inscription

Location

Back of icon

Transcription

28, Initials

Lexicon

Nomenclature 4.0

Nomenclature Secondary Object Term

Icon

Nomenclature Primary Object Term

Symbol, Religious

Nomenclature Sub-Class

Religious Objects

Nomenclature Class

Ceremonial Objects

Nomenclature Category

Category 08: Communication Objects

Dimensions

Height

12-1/4 in

Width

10-1/8 in

Depth

1-1/2 in

Exhibition

Spirit Made Tangible: The Scheuring Icon Collection (2006)

Interpretative Labels

Label Type

Cultural/Historical Context

Label

"The historical St. George lived in Beirut at a time when Christians were persecuted under the rule of Diocletian. In 303, St. George gave all of his worldly possessions to the poor, freed his slaves, and went before the emperor as a follower of Christ. After a righteous speech that insulted Diocletian and his pagan ways, the emperor ordered George to be tortured and beheaded. Apparently the same St. George slew the dragon terrorizing the city of Selena in Libya. Several sources suggest this was done posthumously as a miracle by the canonized saint, rather than by a different St. George. It can be compared to a similar, yet stylistically different, rendering of the same episode seen in 2005.02.084. "