Saint George Slays the dragon

Carpaccio's Saint George Slays the Dragon from 1516 depicts the legendary combat in a version of the subject he had treated more famously in his Schiavoni cycle of 1502, demonstrating how popular his treatment of this chivalric saint remained in the second decade of the sixteenth century. The 1516 version differs from the earlier treatment in its more open spatial arrangement and potentially updated stylistic approach reflecting developments in Venetian painting over the intervening decade. George, patron of Venice's Dalmatian Schiavoni community, was among the most potent symbols of Christian martial heroism in the Venetian tradition, and Carpaccio's multiple treatments of the subject demonstrate both the saint's sustained appeal and the demand from different Venetian institutions and patrons for new versions of the celebrated composition.

The combat scene is rendered with dynamic energy, the knight and dragon locked in struggle within Carpaccio's characteristically detailed landscape setting.