Saint George and the Dragon
circle of Michael Pacher (Bruneck c.1435 – Salzburg 1498)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
1470 - 1499
Materials
Oil on panel (softwood)
Measurements
540 x 400 mm (21 1/4 x 15 3/4 in)
Place of origin
Germany
Order this imageCollection
Upton House, Warwickshire
NT 446802
Caption
This picture is painted on a very thin panel, which suggests that at some point, it was divided. This supports the suggestion that it formed the shutter of an altarpiece, with another painting on the reverse. Pacher was an Austrian Tyrolean painter and sculptor, whose best-known work is the altarpiece at the church in the village of St. Wolfgang, in Austria. He was inspired by Northern Italian artists, such as Mantegna. If this panel is not by Pacher himself, it must be by an able follower.
Summary
Oil painting on softwood panel with canvas backing, Saint George and the Dragon, attrributed to the circle of Michael Pacher (c.1435-1498). The present panel, which has been built up at the back, is only 4 mm thick, including gesso layer. This suggests that at some period it has been divided, and supports the hypothesis that the St George formed the shutter of an altarpiece with another painting on the reverse. St. George stands half length, looking down at the exiguous dragon into which he thrusts his sword; he wears armour and a green cloak thrown over his shoulders; an ornamental band encircles his forehead, from which his hair falls to his shoulders; in his mailed left hand he grasps a staff or lance, while his right is raised, gripping the sword; gold background.
Provenance
Andreas Colli (1858 - 1945), art dealer in Innsbruck (according to Upton catalogue). [It is not clear from Speelman's correspondence with Lord Bearsted and Baldass, whether he had acquired the painting from Colli, or whether the idea only arose later, because of the provenance of the Saint Barbara]. In 1937 it appears to have been with an 'English dealer' [= Edward Speelman (1901 - 1994), by whom it had originally been left on approval at the National Gallery] (catalogue of Gotik in Tirol exhibition, Innsbruck, 1950: see entry No. 96). It was acquired by Lord Bearsted in August, 1937, for £800, via Speelman; given with Upton House to the National Trust by Walter Samuel, 2nd Viscount Bearsted (1882 – 1948) shortly before his death in 1948
Credit line
Upton House, The Bearsted Collection (National Trust)
Makers and roles
circle of Michael Pacher (Bruneck c.1435 – Salzburg 1498), artist previously catalogued as attributed to Michael Pacher (Bruneck c.1435 – Salzburg 1498), artist
