TWENTY SAINTS IN TWENTY DAYS: PART 11 – ST GEORGE

Title: Saint George and the Dragon
Artist: Gustave Moreau
Medium: Oil on canvas
Size: 141 x 96.5 cm
Date: 1889-90
Location: National Gallery, London.

TWENTY SAINTS IN TWENTY DAYS: PART 11 – ST GEORGE

Saint George (c. 275 – April 303) was, according to tradition, a Roman soldier in the Guard of Diocletian, who is venerated as a Christian martyr. In hagiography Saint George is one of the most venerated saints as well as being the patron saint of several nations. The episode of Saint George and the Dragon is Eastern in origin, brought back with the Crusaders and retold. The city of Silene was terrorized by a dragon, and to appease the dragon the people fed it their children. One day the king's daughter was to be fed to the dragon, when, by chance, St George rode past, and subdued the dragon. So that the king and the people of Silene would convert, George slew the dragon. Remembering the unscrupulous freedom with which any wild story, even when pagan in origin, was appropriated by the early hagiographers to the honor of a popular saint, scholars are fairly safe in assuming that the Acts of St. George, though ancient in date and preserved to us (with endless variations) in many different languages, afford absolutely no indication at all for arriving at the saint's authentic history.

This late work is one of the Moreau’s rare completed oils. The design is based on a drawing that he had produced about twenty years earlier. The figures of the horse and the dragon are reminiscent of those of Raphael, but the painting is otherwise a more abstract and ornamental rendering of the legendary subject. The haloed figure of the saint recalls works of the early Renaissance that Moreau would have seen in Italy, notably those of Carpaccio and Crivelli. The figure of the princess with her hands folded in prayer in the right background, and the visionary Gothic castle in the distance, have been compared to those seen in eastern miniatures.

Gustave Moreau (April 1826 – April 1898) was a French Symbolist painter whose main emphasis was the illustration of biblical and mythological figures. He trained at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts. The work of Delacroix - and that of Theodore Chassériau, who was an admirer of Delacroix's and a friend of Moreau's - was a great influence on his development. He visited Italy and developed an interest in Byzantine art and the primitive Italian painters. Moreau sought to perpetuate the traditions of religious and mythological painting, at a time when naturalism was becoming increasingly dominant. Hostile criticism of his work caused him to exhibit only intermittently at the Salon, though later he was elected a member of the Academy. He also taught at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts from 1892, winning the admiration of students, who included Matisse and Georges Rouault. He was a leading painter of the French Symbolist movement.

Saint George Killing the Dragon

Title: Saint George Killing the Dragon

Artist: Bernat Martorell

Medium: Tempera on wood

Size: 141 x 96 cm

Date: 1430-35

Location: Art Institute of Chicago.

Saint George (ca. 275/281 – 23 April 303) was, according to tradition, a Roman soldier in the Guard of Diocletian, who is venerated as a Christian martyr. In hagiography Saint George is one of the most venerated saints as well as being the patron saint of several nations. The episode of Saint George and the Dragon is Eastern in origin, brought back with the Crusaders and retold. The city of "Silene," Libya, was terrorized by a dragon. To appease the dragon the people used to feed it a sheep every day, but when the sheep failed, they fed it their children. One day it happened that the lot fell on the king's daughter who was led away to be fed to the dragon. By chance, St George rode past, subdued the dragon, and led it back to Silene. The people were terrified, but St George called out to them, saying that if they became Christians he would slay the dragon. The king and the people of Silene converted and George slew the dragon.

The principal axis of the composition is determined by St George's long spear. In addition to this, a single imaginary vertical line connects the eyes of the dragon, of the horse and of the princess. In the form of a letter V the two straight lines flank the bastion of the royal castle. Bones of humans and animals are scattered on the ground. In the background, in the middle of civilized, idyllic scenery is the royal castle, surrounded by a moat, on whose emerald waters swans are swimming. The crowd gathered on the balconies and bastions of the building watch with excitement to see how the fight will end. The light is reflected in different ways by the grains of sand, by the smooth rock, by the dragon's skin and its belly, by the metal amour and by the precious stones. Only the frightened eyes of the dragon and of the horse convey the dramatic qualities of the scene. Fright would be unworthy of the saint; his face is etherealized and serene.

Bernardo Martorell (b. ca. 1400, Sant Celoni, d. 1452, Barcelona) was a Spanish painter, working in an Early Renaissance style. He worked as a panel painter and illuminator in the service of the city of Barcelona, but he was often given the task of preparing designs for stained glass windows and for sculptures as well. This composition was originally the centre panel of an altarpiece; the two volets, with panels representing the saint's martyrdom, are preserved in the Louvre in Paris.

Mary and Her Son, and Apostles and Saints George and Theodore

Title: Mary and Her Son, and Apostles and Saints George and Theodore

Artist: (Unknown)

Medium: Tempera on wood

Size: 25 x 40 cm

Date: c. 1480

Location: The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore.

The dominant image of this diptych is that of the Christ Child as he touches his mother's chin, a gesture of affection that was probably inspired by 15th-century Italian paintings then greatly admired at the Ethiopian royal court. Further imagery on the diptych that had great appeal for the upper classes in Ethiopia was the victorious saints on horseback, such as Saints George and Theodore on the right-hand panel. Ethiopian noblemen were well trained in horsemanship and combat, and had as much admiration for these battling saints as the European counterparts.

The origins of Christianity in Ethiopia date back to at least 316 AD, after two survivors of a voyage of exploration along the coast of Africa were taken to the court and given positions of trust by the monarch. They both practiced the Christian faith in private, and soon converted the queen and several other members of the royal court. However, the Ethiopian Church claims its origins from the royal official said to have been baptized by Philip the Evangelist, as recorded in Acts of the Apostles chapter 8:26-40. The Angel of the Lord had sent Philip south from Jerusalem where he encountered an Ethiopian, a eunuch of great authority under the queen of the Ethiopians. Philip helped the Ethiopian interpret a passage he had been reading in Isaiah, and used this passage as a starting point to explain the Good News about Jesus Christ.

The artist is most likely a follower of Fre Seyon, the celebrated 15th-century monk and artist. Seyon is credited with the development of the devotional Marian Icon images and style. He left only one signed work during his career, which may be dated to the period of about 1445-80. Mary became an extremely important figure in the Ethiopian church when Emperor Zar'a Ya'eqob (r. 1434–68) mandated the reading of the Miracles of the Virgin Mary, and that she be honored at most of the thirty feast days in the liturgical year.

Mary with Her Son

Title: Mary with Her Son

Artist: Anonymous (Ethiopian)

Medium: Tempera on wood

Size: 38.1 x 44.44 cm

Date: late 17th century

Location: The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore.

On this triptych the imposing figures of Mary and Her Son dominate the lower scene of Christ teaching the Apostles, who are seated in rows on the central panel and wings. The large, watchful eyes, always powerful in Ethiopian icons, are especially impressive here, as are the fine details of the speckled and jeweled robes.

The side panels of this triptych depict the Resurrection and Saint George, and the Crucifixion and Saint Mercurius. The resurrected Christ, seen at the upper left, holds a small cross as a symbol of victory over death.

Historically, Ethiopia was a Christian kingdom with strong ties in both trade and religion to the cultures located around the Mediterranean. Ethiopia's Christian tradition dates back to the 4th century, when the king of the Aksumite kingdom converted to Christianity; by the 15th century, this African nation had developed a tradition of icon painting that rivaled that of the Orthodox empires of Byzantium and Russia as well as the famed panel paintings of Renaissance Italy. This particular example dates from the late Solomonic Dynasty