The Symbolism and Iconography of Saint George and the Dragon
The wealth of
images depicted in holy icons is overwhelming, yet one thing appears to unite
them all. Despite not usually being painted in a naturalistic way, they are
always concerned in depicting reality. In icons of the life of Christ, His
Saints, or other historic events we are always presented with what happened,
and the meaning behind what happened.
The image of St
George killing the dragon, on the other hand, appears more like a fairy-story;
indeed, it is a popular image in children’s story books.
So why are there
literally thousands of holy icons surviving of St George killing a dragon,
found in all parts of the Christian world, and spanning centuries?
George the Saint
and Martyr
George the man
was a Roman soldier born in the late 3rd century A.D. in Cappadocia, and
brought up as a Christian by his widowed mother in her hometown of Lydda, in
Palestine.
Under the
emperor Diocletian a persecution of the Christians arose, and being a Roman
commander by this time, George was ordered to take part. He refused and
confessed his faith. Terrible tortures failed to weaken the young George (he
was still in his twenties), but instead converted some of those who witnessed his
confession, including Diocletian’s wife Empress Alexandria. Finally, George was
beheaded. The year of his martyrdom was 303 A.D.
Just a
generation later, when the Christian emperor Constantine ruled the Roman
Empire, there was a church dedicated to St George and his relics were kept at
Lydda for veneration by local Christians.
With such an
early and widespread devotion to St George, his image became, and remains,
consistent, being based on his actual physical appearance in the world. He is
shown as a youth (beardless), with rows of curly brown hair. He is dressed as a
soldier, and relating to that images of him riding a white horse also date back
to the first millennium. Sometimes he is also shown wearing a jeweled diadem on
his head, a Near-Eastern version of a royal crown, relating to his “crown of
martyrdom”.
The Miracle of St
George and the Dragon
St George has
come to be known as the Great-martyr, Victory-bearer
and Wonder worker George. This is testimony to not only his life
and death (earning him the title of Great Martyr) but also the miracles God
worked through him after his martyrdom. The history of the Church is full of
posthumous appearances of Christ’s Saints, who not only appear as messengers,
but also to protect and work miracles for Christians struggling on earth. The
rescue of a princess and town from the ravaging of a reptilian beast is one
miracle attributed to St George.
Various versions
exist, but the most widespread concerns a town called Silene, near a lake in
Libya. In the lake lived a creature variously described as a dragon, a giant
serpent, or even just a crocodile. The beast prevented the inhabitants of
Silene from drawing water easily from the lake and generally terrorized the
town. Being pagan, the superstitious townspeople were under the misapprehension
that offering young virgins, chosen by lot, as sacrifice to the monster would
keep the town safe. Inevitably, the lot fell to the king’s daughter (identified
as Elizabeth in a few Russian icons), and despite the pleas of the ruler, his
daughter was sent to the lake.
The old dragon
emerged from the pool, ready to eat the princess, when suddenly St George
appeared on a radiant white horse, armed with spear, shield, and sword. Making
the sign of the Cross, and in the name of “the Father, the Son, and the Holy
Spirit”, St George transfixed the dragon to the ground with his spear, whilst
his horse trampled the serpent under its hooves. St George commanded the
princess to bind the neck of the dragon with her belt and lead the beast back
to the town. Once there, in front of the astonished citizens and the grateful
king, St George dispatches the dragon with his sword.
The miraculous
intervention of George led to the conversion of the whole town to the Christian
faith.
Some details of
the story vary in the retelling, indicating news of the event was initially
transmitted orally (the earliest written accounts date to the 11th and 12th
centuries). However, the main parts of the story: the princess, the dragon
bound with a belt, the pagans hiding behind their town’s walls, and of course
St George himself, appear in a wide range of frescoes and icons, dating back to
the 12th century. This
stone coffin carving from Conisbrough, England, has a carving
of George fighting the dragon (the lower picture) and dates from the 11th
century.
The Dragon:
Miracle, Myth or Symbol?
Whilst it is
beyond doubt that George the soldier and martyr existed, the contemporary
Christian mind tends to struggle with him killing a dragon and rescuing a
princess. It reads too much like a fairy-tale and so the temptation is to label
it as that, and concentrate on the symbolic meaning of the story.
The Symbolism of
the Story and its Icons
There is indeed
strong symbolism behind the story and icons of St George slaying the dragon.
The dragon and the serpent are both descriptions given to the devil by St John
in his Revelation (Rev 12:9). Whatever the true nature of the beast, it is
described as a dragon in the earliest written records, and depicted as a
serpentine dragon in the oldest surviving images, to deliberately evoke this
imagery of the devil.
St George’s
appearance also deliberately evokes Biblical symbolism. Again in the Divine
Revelation to St John, the Apostle writes:
And I saw, and
behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given
unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.(Rev 6:2)
A conquering
soldier upon a bright white horse is precisely how St George is described in
both the written and painted accounts of the miracle. Icons of the miracle also
often show a crown being brought down from heaven and placed on George’s head
by an angel. Other icons, especially from Greece, will also show George with a
bow and quiver of arrows near his saddle, completing the comparison with the
horseman in Revelation.
This is the
image and icon the miracle of St George presents us with: the Martyr who has
become a conquering hero. St George sits atop his conquering white steed, red
cloak of martyrdom billowing behind him, with the blessing of Jesus Christ
indicated by the hand reaching forth to bless him. He rides forth conquering:
the devil first of all, in the form of the dragon, and then latterly the
inhabitants cowering behind the town walls. Ensconced in their fortress, they
look fearfully on because they too are conquered by St George: not through
force, but by their conversion to Christianity after seeing the wonders
performed by God through him.
The Novgorod-style
depictions of St George
The
iconographers of Northern Russia were wont to paint in a stripped-down minimalistic
way, removing all but the main details of the scene depicted. A perfect example
of this is the icon of The Hospitality of Abraham painted
by Andrei Rublev, which removes everything from the scene except the Three
Angels and the table they sat at, producing an image of the Holy Trinity.
St George is
another example, as in Northern icons painted of him during the 15th centuries,
the princess, the town, and even the lake are all removed:
All is left is
the Martyr George on horseback, receiving the blessing of Christ from above. He
is alone in the desert with the serpent-like dragon, which appears to come from
a pit rather than a lake, fighting with the beast. As in the story George is
victorious, and the dragon is pierced through the mouth, yet the image here
becomes more like a general picture of the Saints’ victory over the passions,
fought in the solitude of the inner heart (the desert wilderness of the icon).
Taking the
Symbolism too far
Clearly the
story and image of St George killing the dragon has been understood
symbolically from the beginning, reaching its iconographic climax in the 15th
and 16th centuries. Therefore it is not, either “modern and enlightened” on the
one hand, nor “hyper-rational and critical” on the other to give this symbolic
meaning to icons of St George killing the dragon: the medieval Christians
before us understood it too.
Nevertheless,
there is a temptation to totally disregard the account of the original miracle,
as though the symbol of George killing the dragon came first, and that the princess and the Libyan pagans were
invented later as a story to flesh out the symbolic image. This cannot be the
case, as some of the earliest images of St George killing the dragon (11th and
12th centuries) also include other details, like the princess leading the
dragon with her belt: details which aren’t as easy to interpret symbolically. A
good example of early images of the “complete” miracle is the fresco from St
George’s church in Staraya Ladoga, North Russia, which dates from the 1160s.
Perhaps the
dragon was a description given to a creature far more recognizable to us living
today, though the other aspects of the story: the pagans sacrificing their
townspeople to this beast, the deliverance by St George, and the pagans’
subsequent conversion must be taken at face-value. Far greater miracles have
been worked in God’s name, and if we are willing to look a bit gullible or
foolish to the world for believing the Resurrection and Acts of the Apostles
literally happened, then it’s no worry to do the same for this miracle.
More important,
though, is to understand the meaning of the miracle. It is more than likely
that the historical miracle and the symbolic interpretation of the miracle
happened at the same time. This is how it happened in the Scriptures too: a
miracle was not done for the sake of doing a miracle, but “for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified
thereby.” (John 11:4, and at other places in John’s Gospel
especially).
The rider on the
white horse in Revelation is a figure given to the first-century Christians as
a sign of hope, and that by staying faithful they will be victorious amidst
persecutions. The image of St George transfixing the dragon was given to
Christians in later times, when they too were in need of hope. Though the
Byzantine Roman Empire was Christian by the end of the first millennium, her
lands were beset on all sides by non-Christians of various types: pagans,
Muslims, and even Christian heretics like the Arians. St George appeared to the
besieged Christians as the conquering hero to strengthen their confession.
St George as the
“Victory-Bearer” and “Dragon-Slayer”continues to be a persistent image today
for Christians, whether struggling with external or internal attack. The reason
is two-fold. Firstly, the image of George and the Dragon is striking, and no
doubt many iconographers enjoy painting the Saint in such an unusual pose; yet
that wouldn’t be reason enough if the miracle of St George were a myth.
Therefore the second and most important reason why the image persists is
because God continues to work miracles through St George’s intercession even
today for those faithful Christians who turn to him for help.
God raised you as
his own gardener, O George,
for you have gathered for yourself the sheaves of virtue.
Having sown in tears, you now reap with joy;
you shed your blood in combat and won Christ as your crown.
Through your intercessions, forgiveness of sins is granted to all.
for you have gathered for yourself the sheaves of virtue.
Having sown in tears, you now reap with joy;
you shed your blood in combat and won Christ as your crown.
Through your intercessions, forgiveness of sins is granted to all.
Source: https://iconreader.wordpress.com/2012/04/25/saint-george-and-the-dragon-in-iconography/
