The Glory of Saint George

Through texts and abundant illustrations, this exhibition catalogue allows the reader to explore the diverse iconographic world of Saint George.

The cult of Saint George met with considerable success and its fame spread throughout the Christian world. The saint became the emblem of a number of countries and regions of Europe, including England, Portugal, Catalonia and Aragon. A figure open to multiple interpretations, Saint George also became the patron saint of guilds (knights, armourers, saddle makers, field workers, etc.) and many types of orders, as well as hundreds of European cities that placed themselves under his protection. This resulted in a wide range of representations, found today in the largest European collections, but also many depictions in popular art that today constitute a less permanent heritage - a topic also explored in the current exhibition.

Saint George and the dragon constitute two fictions that intersect in the moment of combat. This is what has made it possible, down through the ages, for the figures to be rendered without the need to reference a single fixed image. The motif of Saint George and the dragon thus continued to expand and evolve, reflecting not only its power to embody Christian thought, but also a wide range of interpretations by artists and others.

This volume includes a selection of the many sculptures, paintings, drawings, illuminations and icons that have been used to depict the Saint in various ways. It explores the ways in which "Saint George and the dragon" appears to us to as the embodiment of man's battles against a host of hostile forces, but also, and perhaps more importantly, man's struggle with himself in his quest to assert his destiny.

Laurent Busine is director of the Musée des Arts Contemporains (MAC's) of the French Community of Belgium in Grand-Hornu.

The book Saint George. The Man, the Dragon and Death ambitiously seeks to present an overview of depictions of the legend of Saint George, whose struggle with the dragon is the most well known and widely depicted. Our historical knowledge of the subject offers an excellent springboard for the imagination. Since the dragon and St. George are two fictions locked in a combat that never actually took place, each subsequent epoch has been free to represent this scene in ways that allow it to transcend being merely a static symbol. In this way, the image has never ceased to be depicted and evolve, thus manifesting its power not only to give shape to Christian thought, but also to a wide range of interpretations by artists and others.
The authors also examine the ways in which the image of Saint George and the Dragon has become, for a contemporary audience, a symbol of human beings' struggles against hostile forces, as well as, and perhaps more importantly, of man's battle with himself as he attempts to fulfill his destiny. A section of the book will also be dedicated to the work of contemporary artists such as David Claerbout, Giuseppe Penone, Luc Tuymans and Angel Vergara Santiago, who have been invited to show, in the context of the exhibition, how the myth continues today to be as meaningful as ever.