Saint+George+and+the+Dragon

Paolo Uccello 1456 Uccello was a painter of the Quattrocento, the first period of the Italian Renaissance. At that time, the art of painting was still committed to illustrating religious and mythological subjects. This picture is thus based on the medieval legends of Saint George, patron saint of the soldiers, who lived in the 3rd or 4th century and was famous for his innumerable feats. In the image he appears fighting a colourist dragon which is gently guided with a thin string by a delicate princess, who is supposed to be its prisoner. Ucello got a place in the History of Art for developing such pictorial resources as perspective, geometry and human or animal anatomy in order to give a more realistic aspect to his work. However, this picture could be an illustration from a fairy tale. Look at the foreshortened horse on the strength of the attack, the dragon’s blood dripping on the ground or the convergent hedges of grass. These achievements of realism contrast with the amazing invention of the dragon (its wings are decorated like the 2nd World War “Spitfire” airplane), the lady’s slim figure, the unlikely cave made of pasteboard or the twisting stormy clouds. In conclusion, everything composes a dramatic scene where we find some beautiful rehearsals of veracity for describing a fantastic story plenty of symbols: the triumph of goodness over evil or, more esoterically said, the liberation of conscience (princess) from the clutches of body and mind (dragon) by the will power of the inner warrior (knight)…just to mention a few. Guillermo De Juan ||
 * [[image:sanjorgeyeldragon_paolo_ucello_1439-40.jpg width="640" height="490" align="left"]] ||
 * SAINT GEORGE AND THE DRAGON