Saint George

Dosso Dossi (Giovanni di Niccolò de Lutero)

about 1513–1515

Oil on panel, Oil

J. Paul Getty Museum

A man with long brown hair and a beard, wearing armor and a yellow tunic, looks directly at the viewer. He holds a staff and a slain creature with feathers and red markings. Dosso Dossi depicts Saint George in the aftermath of his legendary battle with the dragon, wielding the creature's bloodied head and the lance broken during the fight. The victorious saint emerges from the darkness as a rainbow breaks through the storm clouds above. Dossi poignantly expressed his subject's recent emotional turmoil in the saint's penetrating expression. He appears weary yet resolute in his triumph, perhaps relieved that his strenuous battle has come to an end. A third-century Christian warrior, Saint George was the patron saint of Ferrara, the artist’s native city. The early provenance of this painting is unknown, bu