Terms and Conditions
The artist, title and date of the work must be listed anywhere the image is reproduced:
Paolo Uccello
Saint George slaying the dragon (c. 1430)
oil, tempera and silver leaf on wood panel
62.2 × 38.8 cm
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Felton Bequest, 1949
Photo: National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Where possible, the image must be reproduced in full (no cropping or over-printing). If you wish to use a detail of the work, a full reproduction of the work must also be reproduced elsewhere in the publication.
While the NGV believes this work to be in the Public Domain, it is the responsibility of the publisher to ensure that no further permissions are required for use.
For a complete list of terms and condition of use see the National Gallery of Victoria’s copyright policy.
Saint George slaying the dragon
(c. 1430)
Medium
oil, tempera and silver leaf on wood panel
Measurements
62.2 × 38.8 cm
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Felton Bequest, 1949
Gallery location
14th - 16th Century Gallery - Painting & Decorative Arts
Level 1, NGV International
About this work
The Florentine master Paolo Uccello is thought to have painted this panel around 1430 while in Venice, where he had been hired to restore the Byzantine mosaics of San Marco. The subject of St George and the dragon was an allegory about Christian conversion. According to Voragine’s Golden Legend (c.1250), St George rescued a pagan Libyan princess from being sacrificed to a dragon. Knocked to the ground and with his spear broken, George dispatched the monster by driving a sword between its scales. He then converted the Libyan people to Christ. It has been suggested that the popularity of this militaristic subject in Venice was linked to the city’s rising tensions with nearby Ottoman Turkey.
Artwork Details
Place/s of Execution
Florence, Tuscany, Italy
Accession Number
2124-4
Department
International Painting
This digital record has been made available on NGV Collection Online through the generous support of Digitisation Champion Dame Carol Colburn-Grigor CBE through Metal Manufactures Limited