St George and the Dragon

St George and the Dragon
first half of the 15th century

St. George and the legend of his taming the dragon was a popular subject for icons in medieval Russia. This panel from Novgorod continues the tradition. The saint was revered as patron of warriors and their retinues as well as of crop raisers and cattle breeders.
In the typical Novgorodian style, one sees vivid red colours and the pre-realistic face. St George is shown in the rich armour of a Roman commander, with shield and lance, topped with the Orthodox Christian cross. There is a great sense of movement and action in the icon heightened by the sense of movement as the saint twists to kill the beast.
Both the short figure -- typical of Novogord school-- and the stubby horse add to a sense of compact a compact, power. As with other icons of the northern Russian schools, only essential details and the very moment of the miracle are depicted. Later icons often relate the event in its greatest detail, with Princess Elisaba, the townspeople and the princess' parents looking on from the town walls. The compositon also shows the clarity and simplicity of its period. According to the legend, the rider was radiating an indescribable light which is here represented by the white colour of the horse (a traditon in St. George iconography).

Especially essentail to the teaching of the icon is the hand approaching from the right side: it is inscribed with the name of Jesus Christ (IC XC = Isus Khristos in greek and Old Slavic). The doctrine spells out how George gains victory only through the hand of God, not through his own power. Both the rider and horse are submissive (in pose and theology) to this Godly power. Yet the saint, for all his faith in God, is also the activator of the miracle and underscores the Orthodox doctrine that although there is no victory over evil without God, man is responsible for putting that faith into action.