Saint George In Polychrome Wood - Swabia Or Tyrol, Late 15th Century

This very beautiful polychrome wood shows Saint George, venerated patron of the Christian chivalry, whose cult exploded in Europe after the return of the first crusades. The life of this Christian Roman officer is told to us in the famous Légende Doré by Jacques de Voragine written in 1263. In his vernacular poem, the author tell the most famous episode in the life of the martyr. While riding through the Roman province of Libya on horseback, Saint George discovered the city of Silene terrorized by a dragon demanding daily tribute of young people to devour. That day, fate had designated the king's daughter, whom George decides to deliver by confronting the dragon. Helped by Christ, he pierces the monster with his spear and frees the princess. This episode, symbolizing the victory of the Christian faith over the demon, but also a model image of courtesy, enjoyed a dazzling posterity in the arts of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance.
Tutelary figure of the Christian knight, our saint is represented here dressed in his armor, carrying in his right hand a shield and in his left a spear. His slender figure and elegant posture, underlined by his long cape, as well as his hair with abundant curls evoke those of the handsome Saint George in the Boucher de Perthes d'Abbeville museum, dated from the end of the 15th century and donated to a workshop of the Swabia or Tyrole. The tender and lively tonality of the features of our saint confirms his link with these prestigious workshops whose activity experienced a real Golden Age at the end of the Middle Ages.