Saint George and the Dragon
German (Swabian) School
Category
Art / Sculpture
Date
circa 1470 - 1490
Materials
Pine
Measurements
851 mm (33 1/2 in)
Place of origin
Swabia
Order this imageCollection
Anglesey Abbey, Cambridgeshire
NT 514592
Summary
Limewood; Saint George with the dragon; Southern Germany, probably Swabia; c. 1470-90. With the saint depicted wearing full armour over which is a gilded mantle. He holds a jousting lance, which he uses to impale the dragon crouching at his feet.
Full description
Limewood sculpture of Saint George, made in Southern Germany, probably Swabia, c. 1470-90. The saint is depicted wearing full armour over which is a gilded mantle. He is bare-headed, but the bevor (a piece of armour protecting the neck) covers his chin. In his right hand he holds a jousting lance, the end of which impales the dragon, which crouches at Saint George’s feet between his legs, raising its head towards the saint as if to protest. Saint George stands upon an integrally carved small hillock; the sculpture is set upon a modern wooden base, to which is affixed an engraved brass plate recording its loan to a Burlington Fine Arts Club exhibition in 1936. The saint depicted in this statue is George (died c. 303 A.D.), a martyr saint famous as the patron saint of England, but also worshipped elsewhere in Europe, including Southern Germany and Austria. George is said to have lived in Asia Minor, today’s Turkey, and to have been born in Cappadocia and died in Lydda in Palestine, towards the end of the third century A.D. His cult reached its height during the late Middle Ages and early Renaissance period. The most famous story concerning George, his defeat of the dragon that had been terrorising the people of a country and was about to devour the daughter of the king, is not historical, but rather is largely based on the telling of the story in the Golden Legend, a collection of saints’ stories written by the Italian churchman Jacopo de Voragine (c. 1230-98), which became immensely popular in the following centuries. According to this narrative, the monster terrorised the local area, poisoning with its breath anyone who approached it. For a time the local populace kept the dragon at bay with an offering of two sheep every day but, when no more sheep were to be found, a human victim had to be chosen to take their place, the lot falling to the king’s daughter, who was sent to her fate dressed as a bride. George attacked the dragon, piercing it with his lance and subduing the animal, which he bridled using the princess’s girdle and then led, as if it were tamed, before the people. George announced that if the populace would believe in Jesus Christ and agree to be baptised, he would rid them for ever of the monster. On the king and his people agreeing to these terms, George despatched the dragon, whilst 15,000 people were baptized. The saint refused any further reward for his service, instead asking the king to maintain churches, honour the clergy and show compassion towards the poor. Saint Georges is frequently portrayed with the dragon in European sculpture made in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The saint standing in victory over the dragon is a common theme in German sculpture. Examples are in the British Museum (c. 1450-1500; Inv. WB.259), in the Victoria & Albert Museum (Swabian, c. 1480-90; Inv. A.26-1913. Norbert Jopek, German Sculpture 1430-1540. A Catalogue of the Collection in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London 2002, p. 76, no. 28) and also at Anglesey Abbey (NT 514507.1). Generally, however these sculptures depict the saint without a cloak, so as to show off the often splendid rendition of his armour. It is much more unusual for Saint George to be shown, as in this sculpture, wrapped in a cloak, admittedly a splendid golden one. He may be seen dressed in a cloak and with a similarly pensive expression in a figure in the Landesgalerie in Hanover, attributed to Bavaria and dated c. 1470-90 (Inv. KM 1914.88. Gert von der Osten, Katalog der Bildwerke in der Niedersächsischen Landesgalerie Hannover, Munich 1957, p. 183, no. 224). Likewise the saint is seen in a somewhat similar hieratic pose, and draped in his cloak, in an engraving by an artist close to the German printmaker Israel van Meckenem, dated to c. 1465-70, in the British Museum (Inv.1861,1109.642). The rather static pose of the saint here suggests the sculpture was conceived as a guardian figure, perhaps for some altarpiece. Large figures of Saint George paired with another saint, often Florian, were used in Southern Germany and Austria to flank the main shrines of altarpieces; there is a pair of such figures at Anglesey Abbey (NT 514507.1-2). These figures were however often conceived and carved in the round, whereas this Saint George was unworked at the back, which is also flattened. This tells us that the sculpture must certainly have been made to be placed against a wall or the back panel of an altar. Stylistically, it seems to have been made in Southern Germany, probably towards the end of the fifteenth century. The prominent bevor, the piece of armour designed to protect the neck, may be compared with one in the Wallace Collection (Inv. A 193) made by the Landshut armourer Matthes Deutsch and dated c. 1480. The voluminous cloak, with its large flat folds, is rather similar to the drapery in numerous sculptures made in the workshop of Jörg Lederer (documented 1499, died 1550), who worked in the Swabian town of Kaufbeuren, for example a figure of Saint John the Evangelist in the Bayerisches Nationalmuseum, Munich (Inv. MA 1486). The strongly curled hair is also a feature of some of Lederer’s sculptures, but the rather grave features of the saint are not especially characteristic of his work. Jeremy Warren November 2021
Provenance
Acquired by Lord Fairhaven by 1932 Anglesey Abbey inventory 1932, p. 69, ‘Prior’s Room’, valued at £50. Anglesey Abbey inventory 1940, p. 215, Principal Landing and Staircase to Ground Floor, valued at £40. Bequeathed in 1966.
Makers and roles
German (Swabian) School, sculptor South German School, sculptor
References
‘Anglesey Abbey, Lode, Cambridgeshire. An Inventory and Valuation of Furniture, Pictures, Ornamental Objects, Household Effects and A Collection of Miniatures.. prepared for Insurance Purposes’, Turner, Lord and Ransom, November 1932, p. 69. 'Anglesey Abbey, Lode, Cambridgeshire. An Inventory and Valuation of Furniture, Books, Ornamental Items & Household Effects .. prepared for Insurance Purposes’, Turner, Lord and Ransom, April 1940, p. 215. Christie, Manson & Woods 1971: The National Trust, Anglesey Abbey, Cambridge. Inventory: Furniture, Textiles, Porcelain, Bronzes, Sculpture and Garden Ornaments’, 1971, p. 153. Burlington Fine Arts Club. Catalogue of an exhibition of Gothic art in Europe (c. 1200-c. 1500). 1936., p. 21, no. 18.