Saint George and the Dragon

c. 1506

Raphael

Artist, Marchigian, 1483 - 1520

A man wearing armor, sitting astride a cream-white horse, drives a long lance down at a lizard-like dragon as a woman kneels with her hands in prayer in the landscape beyond in this vertical painting. Both people have pale skin and thin, gold halos floating above their heads. At the center of the composition, the man faces our left in profile as he looks down at the creature. The man has a straight nose and honey-brown hair under his gold-trimmed, pewter-gray helmet. Armor covers his entire body, and a celestial-blue cape billows behind him from where it fastens around his neck. A narrow, indigo-blue and gold band is tied around his left calf, and is inscribed with the word “HONI.” A black sword hangs from his left side. The horse is white with a silvery-white mane and tail. It rears on its hind legs as it turns its head to look at us with hazel-brown eyes. The horse wears a blue saddle and bridle, the same color as the man’s cape, trimmed with gold. A strap around the horse’s neck is painted in gold with the name, “RAPHELLO.” The rider thrusts his foot into the stirrup we can see as he plunges a lance down at the dragon under the horse’s front feet. The dragon has tawny brown skin with a mint green, dog-like head. It grips the earth with clawed feet as at pushes at the lance with one front foot. It twists its long, snake-like neck to look at the man with dark eyes. The dragon opens its pointed snout to show its teeth, and bat-like wings splay out. A tall outcropping over a cave rises along the left edge of the composition, behind the dragon. In a field a little farther back, to our right, the woman kneels with her body angled to our left. She tilts her head away from us and gazes past the man and horse. She has a straight nose, pale pink, bow-shaped lips, and her blond hair is pulled back in a bun. She wears a ruby-red dress and a sheer white wrap around her shoulders and across her arms. Around the woman, straw-yellow hills with bands of pine-green trees roll into the distance. Two terracotta-orange towers rise from a row of trees along the horizon. A few taller trees are outlined against the baby-blue sky, which lightens toward the horizon.

Media Options

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Raphael was born in Urbino, a central Italian duchy noted for its elegant gentility and Renaissance scholarship. He moved to Florence toward the end of 1504.

Saint George and the Dragon, one of two versions of the theme by the artist, belonged to a series of miniature panels that Raphael painted in Florence for the celebrated court of Urbino. A Roman soldier of Christian faith, Saint George saved the daughter of a pagan king by subduing a dragon with his lance; the princess then led the dragon to the city, where the saint killed it with his sword, prompting the king and his subjects to convert to Christianity.

One unusual feature of the painting is the saint's blue garter on his armor–covered leg. Its inscription, HONI, begins the phrase Honi soit qui mal y pense (Disgraced be he who thinks ill of it), the motto of the chivalric Order of the Garter, of which George is the patron saint. Duke Guidobaldo da Montefeltro of Urbino was made a knight of the prestigious order in 1504 by King Henry VII of England. Scholarship has shown that the panel was made for the king's emissary, Gilbert Talbot, and not as a gift directly for the king, as was previously thought.

On View

West Building Main Floor, Gallery 20

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    oil on panel

  • Credit Line

    Andrew W. Mellon Collection

  • Dimensions

    overall: 28.5 x 21.5 cm (11 1/4 x 8 7/16 in.)
    framed: 53.3 x 47.6 x 8.3 cm (21 x 18 3/4 x 3 1/4 in.)

  • Accession

    1937.1.26

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

William Herbert, 3rd Earl of Pembroke [1580-1630], Wilton House, Wiltshire, by 1627; possibly his brother, Philip Herbert, 4th Earl of Pembroke [1584-1649/1650], Wilton House; given either by the 3rd Earl or the 4th Earl between 1628 and 1639 to Charles I, King of England [1600-1649];[1] (Charles I [Commonwealth] sale, Somerset House, London, 19 December 1651); purchased by Edward Bass.[2] Charles d'Escoubleau, Marquis de Sourdis [d. 1666], possibly acquired from Bass.[3] Laurent Le Tessier de Montarsy, by 1729; Pierre Crozat [1665-1740], Paris, by 1729;[4] by inheritance to his nephews, first to Louis-François Crozat, marquis du Châtel [1691-1750], Paris, and then [on Louis-François' death without a male heir] to Louis-Antoine Crozat, baron de Thiers [1700-1770];[5] the latter's heirs; purchased 1772, through Denis Diderot [1713-1784] as an intermediary, by Catherine II, empress of Russia [1729-1796], for the Imperial Hermitage Gallery, Saint Petersburg;[6] purchased March 1931 through (Matthiesen Gallery, Berlin; P. & D. Colnaghi & Co., London; and M. Knoedler & Co., New York) by Andrew W. Mellon, Pittsburgh and Washington, D.C.; deeded 30 March 1932 to The A.W. Mellon Educational and Charitable Trust, Pittsburgh;[7] gift 1937 to NGA.
[1] Recorded in Van der Doort, A Catalogue and Description of King Charles the First's Capital Collection of Pictures, Limnings, Statues, etc, from an Ashmolean manuscript (c. 1639), prepared for press by G. Vertue (printed by W. Bathoe), 1757: 4.
[2] According to O. Miller, "The Inventories and Valuations of the King's Goods, 1649-1651," Journal of the Walpole Society 43 (1970-1972): 258.
[3] According to N. Le Clerc and J. Colomsat, Cabinet des Singularitez D'Architecture, Peinture, Sculpture, et Graveure, Paris, 1699: 66-67.
[4] Cited by F. R. Shapley, Catalogue of the Italian Paintings, 2 vols., Washington, 1979: 1:394, as documented in the Recueil des Stampes...dans le Cabinet du Roi..., Volume I, 1763: 13.
[5] Recorded in Catalogue des Tableaux du Cabinet de M. Crozat, Baron de Thiers, Paris, 1755: 34.
[6] See A. Somof, Catalogue de la Galerie des Tableaux, Saint Petersburg, 1899: 112-113.
[7] Mellon/Mellon trust purchase date and/or date deeded to to Mellon Trust is according to Mellon collection files in NGA curatorial records and David Finley's notebook (donated to the National Gallery of Art in 1977, now in Gallery Archives).

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1983

  • Raphael and America, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1983, no. 77, repro.

Bibliography

1773

  • Imperial Hermitage Museum [probably Ernst von Münnich, ed.] "Catalogue raisonné des tableaux qui se trouvent dans les Galeries, Sallons et Cabinets du Palais Impérial de S. Pétersbourg, commencé en 1773 et continué jusqu’en 1785.” 3 vols. Manuscript, Fund 1, Opis’ VI-A, delo 85, Hermitage Archives, Saint Petersburg,1773-1783 (vols. 1-2), 1785 (vol. 3).

1774

  • Imperial Hermitage Museum [probably Ernst von Münnich, ed.]. Catalogue des tableaux qui se trouvent dans les Cabinets du Palais Impérial à Saint-Pétersbourg. Based on the 1773 manuscript catalogue. Saint Petersburg, 1774: no. 545.

1909

  • Wrangell, Baron Nicolas. Les Chefs-d'Oeuvre de la Galérie de Tableaux de l'Hermitage Impérial à St-Pétersbourg. London, 1909: repro. 9.

1937

  • Jewell, Edward Alden. "Mellon's Gift." Magazine of Art 30, no. 2 (February 1937): 82.

1941

  • Preliminary Catalogue of Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1941: 163, no. 26.

  • Richter, George Martin. "The New National Gallery in Washington." The Burlington Magazine for Connoisseurs 78 (June 1941): 178.

1942

  • Book of Illustrations. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1942: 239, repro. 173.

1944

  • Cairns, Huntington, and John Walker, eds. Masterpieces of Painting from the National Gallery of Art. New York, 1944: 46, color repro.

1946

  • Favorite Paintings from the National Gallery of Art Washington, D.C.. New York, 1946: 25-28, color repro.

1949

  • Paintings and Sculpture from the Mellon Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1949 (reprinted 1953 and 1958): 27, repro.

1951

  • Einstein, Lewis. Looking at Italian Pictures in the National Gallery of Art. Washington, 1951: 58-60, repro.

1956

  • Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. New York, 1956: 20, repro.

  • Volpe, Carlo. "Due questioni raffaellesche. Paragone 7 no. 75 (March 1956): 12.

1957

  • Shapley, Fern Rusk. Comparisons in Art: A Companion to the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC. London, 1957 (reprinted 1959): pl. 28.

1960

  • The National Gallery of Art and Its Collections. Foreword by Perry B. Cott and notes by Otto Stelzer. National Gallery of Art, Washington (undated, 1960s): 24-25, color repro. 13.

  • Shapley, Fern Rusk. Later Italian Painting in the National Gallery of Art. Washington, D.C., 1960 (Booklet Number Six in Ten Schools of Painting in the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.): 14, color repro.

1963

  • Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. New York, 1963 (reprinted 1964 in French, German, and Spanish): 130, repro.

1965

  • Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 107.

1966

  • Michener, James A. “Four Miracles—And A Masterpiece.” Reader’s Digest 89 (November 1966): 164, repro.

  • Cairns, Huntington, and John Walker, eds. A Pageant of Painting from the National Gallery of Art. 2 vols. New York, 1966: 1:124, color repro.

  • Walton, William. "Parnassus on Potomac." Art News 65 (March 1966): 38.

1968

  • National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 95, repro.

  • Gandolfo, Giampaolo et al. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Great Museums of the World. New York, 1968: 12, 41-42, color repro.

  • Berenson, Bernard. Italian Pictures of the Renaissance. Central Italian and North Italian Schools. 3 vols. London, 1968: 1:355.

1973

  • Finley, David Edward. A Standard of Excellence: Andrew W. Mellon Founds the National Gallery of Art at Washington. Washington, 1973: 22, 25 repro.

1975

  • European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 280, repro.

1978

  • King, Marian. Adventures in Art: National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. New York, 1978: 27, pl. 6.

1979

  • Shapley, Fern Rusk. Catalogue of the Italian Paintings. 2 vols. Washington, 1979: 1:391-394; 2:pl. 279.

  • Watson, Ross. The National Gallery of Art, Washington. New York, 1979: 35, pl. 18.

1982

  • Alsop, Joseph. The Rare Art Traditions: The History of Art Collecting and Its Linked Phenomena Wherever These Have Appeared. (Bollingen series 35, no. 27) New York, 1982: 452, 459, fig. 94.

1983

  • Shearman, John. "A Drawing for Raphael's 'St. George'." The Burlington Magazine 125 no. 958 (January 1983): 15-25, fig. 23, 24.

  • Ettlinger, Helen S. "The Question of St George's Garter." The Burlington Magazine 125 no. 958 (January 1983): 25-29.

1984

  • Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 170, no. 190, color repr.

1985

  • European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 326, repro.

1986

  • Brown, David Alan. "Saint George in Raphael's Washington Painting." Studies in the History of Art 17 (1986):37-44, repro.

  • Christensen, Carol. "Examination and Treatment of Paintings by Raphael at the National Gallery of Art." Studies in the History of Art 17 (1986):47-50, repro.

  • Mulazzani, Germano. "Raphael and Venice: Giovanni Bellini, Dürer, and Bosch." Studies in the History of Art 17 (1986): 149-153, repro.

1991

  • Kopper, Philip. America's National Gallery of Art: A Gift to the Nation. New York, 1991: 91, 96, color repro.

  • Morandotti, Alessandro. "La fortuna collezionistica della pittura gotica e rinascimentale fra Ottocento e Novecento." In Mauro Natale, ed. Pittura italiana dal '300 al '500. Milan, 1991: 39.

1992

  • National Gallery of Art. National Gallery of Art, Washington. New York, 1992: 29, repro.

1996

  • Kruse, Christiane. "Eine gemalte Kunsttheorie im Johannes-Veronika-Diptychon von Hans Memling." Pantheon 54 (1996): 39-40, fig. 4.

  • Landi, Ann. "150 Years of Helping Shape a Nation's Taste." New York Times (December 1, 1996): 46.

1997

  • Neverov, Oleg, and Mikhail Piotrovsky. The Hermitage: Essays on the History of the Collection, Saint Petersburg, 1997, p. 163, repro.

1998

  • Buck, Stephanie and Peter Hohenstatt. Raffeallo Santi, known as Raphael, 1483-1520. Konemann, 1998: repro. no. 25.

  • Apostolos-Cappadona, Diane. "Beheading/Decapitation (Acheiropaiec Heads)." In Helene E. Roberts, ed. Encyclopedia of Comparative Iconography: Themes Depicted in Works of Art. 2 vols. Chicago, 1998: 1:122.

1999

  • Renaissance Culture and the Everyday. ed.Patricia Fumerton and Simon Hunt, Philadelphia, 1999: 47-50, repro.

2002

  • Belozerskaya, Marina. Rethinking the Renaissance: Burgundian Arts Across Europe. Cambridge, 2002: 269-270, fig. 87.

2004

  • Hand, John Oliver. National Gallery of Art: Master Paintings from the Collection. Washington and New York, 2004: 78-79, no. 55, color repro.

  • Nuttall, Paula. From Flanders to Florence: The Impact of Netherlandish Painting, 1400-1500. New Haven and London, 2004: 247-248, fig. 279.

2006

  • Hartt, Frederick, and David G. Wilkins. History of Italian Renaissance Art: Painting, Sculpture, Architecture. 6th ed. Upper Saddle River, 2006: 479, 481, color fig. 16.42.

2007

  • Faber, Kirsten. “Il “Trionfo di Bacco” di Benvenuto Tisi detto il Garofalo: dal modello rafaellesco al dipinto per le ‘camere nuove de corte’ di Ercole II d’Este.” In Alessandro Ballarin, ed. Il Camerino delle Pitture di Alfonso I. 6: Dosso Dossi e La Pittura a Ferrara negli anni Del Ducato di Alfonso I. Atti del Convegno di Studio, Padova, Palazzo del Bo, 9-11 maggio 2001. Padua, 2007: 295.

2009

  • Odom, Anne, and Wendy R. Salmond, eds. Treasures into Tractors: The Selling of Russia's Cultural Heritage, 1918-1938. Washington, 2009: 91, 131, 135 n. 62.

2011

  • Fiedler, Susanne, and Torsten Knuth. "Vexierbilder einer Biographie: Dr. Heinz Mansfeld (1899-1959)." Mecklenburgische Jahrbücher 126 (2011):308.

  • Kustodieva, Tat'jana. Museo Statale Ermitage: La pittura italiana dal XIII al XVI secolo. Milan, 2011:

  • Burioni, Matteo. “Die Immunität Raffaels. Lehre, Nachahmung und Wettstreit inder Begegnung mit Pietro Perugino.” In Andreas Schumacher, ed. Perugino. Raffaels Meister. Exh. cat. Alte Pinakothek, Munich, 2011: 140-143, fig. 75.

2013

  • Hodge, Susie. Raphael: His Life and Works in 500 Images. Wigston, Leicestershire, 2013: 137, color figs.

  • Haskell, Francis. The King's Pictures: The Formation and Dispersal of the Collections of Charles I and His Courtiers. Edited by Karen Serres. New Haven and London, 2013: 47, fig. 57, 181 n. 16, 227.

  • Semyonova, Natalya, and Nicolas V. Iljine, eds. Selling Russia's Treasures: The Soviet Trade in Nationalized Art 1917-1938. New York and London, 2013: 138, 139, 164, repro.

2014

  • Lane, Barbara G. “Hans Memling: vita e opere.” In Memling: Rinasimento fiammingo, ed. Till-Holger Borchert. Exh. cat. Scuderie del Quirinale, Rome, 2014-2015. Milan, 2014: 44-45, 51, nt. 33 and nt. 37, color fig. 6. (The NGA painting was not in the exhibition.)

2015

  • Busine, Laurent and Manfred Sellink, eds. The Glory of Saint George: Man, Dragon and Death. Brussels, 2015: 128-130, 135, 138, 140-141, fig. 112, 260.

2016

  • Wecker, Menachem. "Famed Arts Patron Catherine the Great had Many Lovers, But She was a Prude." Washington Post 139, no. 120 (April 3, 2016): E2, repro.

  • Jaques, Susan. The Empress of Art: Catherine the Great and the Transformation of Russia. New York, 2016: 397, 398, color fig.

  • Warner-Johnson, Tim, and Jeremy Howard, eds. Colnaghi: Past, Present and Future: An Anthology. London, 2016: 64-65, color plate 9.

2023

  • Kondziella, Martha. Sodoma: Die Tafel- und Leinwanbilder. Merzhausen, 2023: 260, fig. 237.

Inscriptions

across center on breast strap of horse: RAPHELLO / .V. (Raphael of Urbino); on garter: HONI (beginning of themotto of the Order of the Garter, Honi soit qu *

Wikidata ID

Q2622161

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