Saint George

c. 1506

Pen and black ink, and grey wash, heightened with white on grey prepared paper

212 × 100 mm

Praun-, Esterházy collection

The drawing depicts Saint George, who, at the end of the third century, served as a soldier in Cappadocia and who was then beheaded for his Christian faith in 303. The saint, who according to a legend had even defeated a dragon, stands in an elegant posture, with the corpse of the dragon hung over his arm. The work served as a model for a woodcut by Cranach on the same theme, dated 1506. The portrayal of Saint George in knightly armour was rendered particularly pertinent by the growing cult surrounding the dragon-slayer. In 1469, in response to the increasing threat posed by the Ottoman armies, Frederick III, Holy Roman emperor, had revitalized the Order of the Knights of Saint George, which was charged with defending Christendom. Several decades later, his son, Maximilian I, founded the Fraternity of Saint George and then, in 1503, the Society of Saint George, thereby enhancing the veneration of the saint.