April 23rd was St. George’s day so, just for fun, I thought I would share a few depictions of St. George that you don’t see every day. St. George is one of the world’s most venerated saints, and is the patron saint of England, Boy Scouts, soldiers, and many nations and cities. Like the Archangel Michael, St. George is a warrior saint. The story of St. George and the Dragon came back to Europe with the Crusaders. St. George is also one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers mentioned in Engelbert Humperdinck’s opera Hansel and Gretel: “When at night I go to sleep/fourteen angels watch do keep….”
St. George and the Pterodactyl
Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins, 1873/1868
Boy Scout as St. George
from Scouting for Boys, 1908
50th Anniversary of the Boy Scouts in Greece
stamp designed by A. Tassos (Anastasios Alevizos, 1914-1985),
St. George window by Hans Acker, 1440
Ulm Münster, Ulm, Germany
And finally, Wallace Tripp‘s whimsical reinterpretation of a bas relief by Michel Colombe (1508, Musée du Louvre).
St. George After Colombe
Wallace Tripp
St. George and the dragon
Michel Colombe, 1508
(These last two images originally posted by artist and photographer Thom Buchanon on his blog mydelineatedlife.blogspot.com)
