St. George Fighting the Dragon

St. George was a high-ranking soldier from Cappadocia, who was beheaded for his Christian faith in the early fourth century, under the Roman Emperor Diocletian. Legend has it that he delivered a city in Libya from a maneating dragon. The monster had slaughtered all the city’s sons and daughters, and now the lot had fallen upon the king’s daughter and she was to be sacrificed. This autograph sculpture by Riemenschneider has suffered unjust neglect among the artist’s works. Its mood is not one of heroic endeavour but rather of fairy-tale enchantment. The underlying narrative stance is one of naïve transfiguration. It is as if some supernatural power were guiding the actions of the saint, who is presented as a knight.