Saint George and the Dragon

The princess has already tied a leash around the dragon’s neck, even as the mounted knight drives a spear into its head. Two stages of the story happen at once. Paolo Uccello, an Italian painter, allows the legend to unfold through a single improbable encounter. In the medieval story, a dragon terrorises a city and the king’s daughter is chosen as its next victim. George, a Christian knight, wounds the beast and tells her to lead it into the city. The citizens agree to become Christians, and he kills it. The leash in the painting joins the rescue to what happens afterwards. The dragon’s angular body echoes the opening of its cave. Behind George, a cloud curls into a spiral. Even the patches of green ground have a geometric shape. Uccello experimented with perspective, using lines and angles to make a flat painting seem deep. This small oil painting on canvas was probably intended for a home. Its owner could enjoy the fantastic animals, elegant clothes and curious landscape as well as recognise the saint’s story.