SAINT GEORGE AND THE DRAGON.
Copy of the painting to order.
Canvas 115õ130 cm, oil, 2021 year.
St. George during his lifetime - the commander of the Roman pagan emperor Diocletian. George denounced his emperor in cruelty and injustice, having heard in court an inhuman sentence about the extermination of Christians. For unwillingness to renounce Christ, George was subjected to various torments and punished by truncation of the head with a sword. The holy sufferer came to Christ in Nicomedia in 303. The painting by Rubens is based on the ancient tradition of the posthumous miracles of the saint. In the city of Beirut, a beast lived in a lake (a boa constrictor, a crocodile or a large lizard - unknown), which devoured the people of that area. Superstitious people periodically gave him a young man or a girl to be eaten by lot. Once, when the beast began to approach another victim, the daughter of the ruler of that area, a bright young man appeared on a white horse, who struck the snake with a spear and saved the girl. The image of George the Victorious on a horse symbolizes the victory over the devil - the ancient serpent. The picture was painted for the Royal Palace Hotel in Khmelnitsky. The dimensions of the original painting are 309x257 cm. Author - Peter Paul Rubens «Saint George and the dragon».