Guiseppe Scolari
Italian, flourished 1550-1625
Saint George and the Dragon
INV-2308
Guiseppe Scolari
Italian, flourished 1550-16251570/1600
Saint George and the Dragon
Guiseppe Scolari Italian, flourished 1550-1625 →woodcutprint
Date
1570/1600
Medium
Woodcut on ivory laid paper
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Location
Chicago, IL
Credit
William McCallin McKee Memorial Endowment
Saint George and the Dragon is a story from The Golden Legend, a popular collection of tales about saints’ lives written in the 13th century. During his travels, Saint George came upon a land distressed by the presence of a dragon. Each day the dragon demanded the sacrifice of a beautiful maiden. With his sword, the saint overtook the dragon and killed it. As a religious parable, the dragon represents evil or paganism. Thick contours and vigorous contrasts between black and white, characteristics of the woodcut medium, emphasize the mood of anguish and distress.
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