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St. George and the Dragon
(Byzantium and Early Russia)
George from Lydda (a town in Palestine) served in the Roman army and became a saint through the martyrdom he suffered on account of his Christian faith. The popular legend about his defeat of a dragon symbolizes the victory of piety over sin and of good over evil. This small image of the saint was used for personal prayer. Its back side is rough and uneven, since it was originally embedded in a protective wooden panel: steatite, soft and easy to carve, also breaks easily.
Provenance
Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object.
Dikran Kelekian, Constantinople and Paris [date of acquisition unknown], by purchase; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1914, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, by bequest.
Exhibitions
| 2008-2009 | Realms of Faith: Medieval and Byzantine Art from the Walters Art Museum. Museum of Biblical Art, New York; Colby College Museum of Art, Waterville; Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha. |
| 2002-2005 | Realms of Faith: Medieval and Byzantine Art from the Walters Art Museum. Frist Center for the Visual Arts, Nashville. |
| 2001-2002 | Realms of Faith: Medieval and Byzantine Art from the Walters Art Museum. Frist Center for the Visual Arts, Nashville. |
| 1947 | Early Christian and Byzantine Art. Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore. |
Measurements
2 13/16 x 2 5/16 in. (7.2 x 5.8 cm)
Credit Line
Acquired by Henry Walters, 1914
Location in Museum
Not on view
Accession Number
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
41.205