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Saint George and the Dragon

Image credit: The National Gallery, London

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Saint George taming then slaying a dragon is one of the most fantastic saints‘ legends of the Middle Ages. Uccello has compressed two parts of the story into one small and strange picture. The saint plunges his spear into the head of a dragon, whose odd shape mirrors the entrance to his cave. An elegant, if bored-looking, princess already has a leash around its neck. We don’t know who this painting was for, but its small scale and non-religious feel – it’s more about a magical adventure than Christian virtue – suggest it was intended for someone’s home. It was relatively cheap to make: it’s in oil on canvas and contains no expensive pigments or gilding. Uccello was fascinated by single point perspective – using lines that lead to one point to create an illusion of depth within a painting – but he hasn’t quite mastered it here.

The National Gallery, London

London

Title

Saint George and the Dragon

Date

about 1470

Medium

Oil on canvas

Measurements

H 55.6 x W 74.2 cm

Accession number

NG6294

Acquisition method

Bought with a special grant and other contributions, 1959

Work type

Painting

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Normally on display at

The National Gallery, London

Trafalgar Square, London, Greater London WC2N 5DN England

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