ST GEORGE AND THE DRAGON
by Jacopo Robusti ("Il Tintoretto")
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Artist: Tintoretto
Year: 1558
Type: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: 157.5 cm × 100 cm (62.0 in × 39 in)
Location: National Gallery, London
Year: 1558
Type: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: 157.5 cm × 100 cm (62.0 in × 39 in)
Location: National Gallery, London
Jacopo Robusti, known as Il Tintoretto 'the little dyer', was the son of a well-to-do Venetian dyer of woollen cloth. He could work at a furious pace, some said he could complete a work faster than another artist might take to think about it.
Often using daring perspective, his dramatic, energetic style drew his audiences into his action-packed canvases.
The story of St George and the Dragon would have been very familiar to him as St George is the patron saint of Venice. The painting was a private commission for a wealthy Venetian who like the story and had an affinity with Tintoretto's exuberant style.
The painting compositionally is filled with arcs and curves creating movement this way and that; from God the Father surrounded in a swirl of light to the Princess dashing to safety, her robe billowing behind her.
Although the story was greatly romanticised in the Middle Ages, the hero was a Roman soldier in the 5th Century, who was reputed to have travelled to Cappadocia (in Asia Minor; modern day Turkey) and converted many to Christianity. For this, the Roman Catholic Church made him a saint.
The story has many versions, but the most common is this one (from Wikipedia)...
"According to the Golden Legend, the narrative episode of Saint George and the Dragon took place somewhere he called "Silene", in Libya; the Golden Legend is the first to place this story in Libya as a sufficiently exotic locale, where a dragon might be found. In the tenth-century Georgian narrative, the place is the fictional city of Lasia, and the idolatrous emperor who rules the city is called Selinus.
The town had a pond, as large as a lake, where a plague-bearing dragon dwelt that poisoned all the countryside. To appease the dragon, the people of Silene used to feed it two sheep every day, and when the sheep failed, they fed it their children, chosen by lottery. It happened that the lot fell on the king's daughter, who is called Sabra in some versions of the story. The king, distraught with grief, told the people they could have all his gold and silver and half of his kingdom if his daughter were spared; the people refused. The daughter was sent out to the lake, dressed as a bride, to be fed to the dragon.
Saint George by chance rode past the lake. The princess, trembling, sought to send him away, but George vowed to remain. The dragon reared out of the lake while they were conversing. Saint George fortified himself with the Sign of the Cross, charged it on horseback with his lance, and gave it a grievous wound. He then called to the princess to throw him her girdle, and he put it around the dragon's neck. When she did so, the dragon followed the girl like a meek beast on a leash.
The princess and Saint George led the dragon back to the city of Silene, where it terrified the people at its approach. But Saint George called out to them, saying that if they consented to become Christians and be baptised, he would slay the dragon before them. The king and the people of Silene converted to Christianity, George slew the dragon, and the body was carted out of the city on four ox-carts. "Fifteen thousand men baptized, without women and children." On the site where the dragon died, the king built a church to the Blessed Virgin Mary and Saint George, and from its altar a spring arose whose waters cured all disease.
Traditionally, the sword with which St. George slew the dragon was called Ascalon, a name recalling the city of Ashkelon, Israel. From this tradition, the name Ascalon was used by Winston Churchill for his personal aircraft during World War II (records at Bletchley Park), since St. George is the Patron Saint of England."
Often using daring perspective, his dramatic, energetic style drew his audiences into his action-packed canvases.
The story of St George and the Dragon would have been very familiar to him as St George is the patron saint of Venice. The painting was a private commission for a wealthy Venetian who like the story and had an affinity with Tintoretto's exuberant style.
The painting compositionally is filled with arcs and curves creating movement this way and that; from God the Father surrounded in a swirl of light to the Princess dashing to safety, her robe billowing behind her.
Although the story was greatly romanticised in the Middle Ages, the hero was a Roman soldier in the 5th Century, who was reputed to have travelled to Cappadocia (in Asia Minor; modern day Turkey) and converted many to Christianity. For this, the Roman Catholic Church made him a saint.
The story has many versions, but the most common is this one (from Wikipedia)...
"According to the Golden Legend, the narrative episode of Saint George and the Dragon took place somewhere he called "Silene", in Libya; the Golden Legend is the first to place this story in Libya as a sufficiently exotic locale, where a dragon might be found. In the tenth-century Georgian narrative, the place is the fictional city of Lasia, and the idolatrous emperor who rules the city is called Selinus.
The town had a pond, as large as a lake, where a plague-bearing dragon dwelt that poisoned all the countryside. To appease the dragon, the people of Silene used to feed it two sheep every day, and when the sheep failed, they fed it their children, chosen by lottery. It happened that the lot fell on the king's daughter, who is called Sabra in some versions of the story. The king, distraught with grief, told the people they could have all his gold and silver and half of his kingdom if his daughter were spared; the people refused. The daughter was sent out to the lake, dressed as a bride, to be fed to the dragon.
Saint George by chance rode past the lake. The princess, trembling, sought to send him away, but George vowed to remain. The dragon reared out of the lake while they were conversing. Saint George fortified himself with the Sign of the Cross, charged it on horseback with his lance, and gave it a grievous wound. He then called to the princess to throw him her girdle, and he put it around the dragon's neck. When she did so, the dragon followed the girl like a meek beast on a leash.
The princess and Saint George led the dragon back to the city of Silene, where it terrified the people at its approach. But Saint George called out to them, saying that if they consented to become Christians and be baptised, he would slay the dragon before them. The king and the people of Silene converted to Christianity, George slew the dragon, and the body was carted out of the city on four ox-carts. "Fifteen thousand men baptized, without women and children." On the site where the dragon died, the king built a church to the Blessed Virgin Mary and Saint George, and from its altar a spring arose whose waters cured all disease.
Traditionally, the sword with which St. George slew the dragon was called Ascalon, a name recalling the city of Ashkelon, Israel. From this tradition, the name Ascalon was used by Winston Churchill for his personal aircraft during World War II (records at Bletchley Park), since St. George is the Patron Saint of England."
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In The Book of Revelation, we read this:
1 ¶ And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars: 2 And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered. 3 And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. 4 And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born. 5 And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne. 6 And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days. 7 And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, 8 And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. 9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. 10 And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. 11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death. 12 ¶ Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time. 13 And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child. 14 And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent. 15 And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood. 16 And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth. 17 And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. |
Father God looking down from the heavens tells us that this story is one that takes place in His spiritual realms. It may be based on certain actual persons or events, but it is a metaphor for the spiritual truth that He is laying before us.
'George' derives from the Greek giorgios, meaning a husbandman or farmer (as in husbandry). A husband (house-band) keeps the house and family together, and references in Scripture to the husband are usuaully as a type of Christ; thus Boaz in the book of Ruth, and 'the Beloved' in Song of Solomon. In Isaiah 54:5 we read For thy maker is thine husband; the Lord of Hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall he be called.
It can be readily inferred that St George represents Christ in the heavenly battle against Satan - the Dragon - the great dragon..., that old serpent, called the Devil and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world. (Revelation 12:9).
The word translated as 'dragon' or 'serpent', comes from the Hebrew meaning to elongate, as in preternaturally formed - twisted out of shape - a monster, sea-serpent, jackal or whale. The same word was used to describe the serpent in the story of Adam and Eve. In Genesis 3:13 it says And the Lord God said unto the woman, What is this thou hast done? And the woman said The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat'.
The Princess shows a type for God's church; 'the body of Christ'; 'the Bride'. As woman she needs a husband (Christ; the head of the body) to battle her assailant in the heavenly realms - for surely the head directs the body - and ensure her safety from Satan's wiles; to keep the serpent at bay lest he twist her to his purposes.
This is a picture of what goes on within us in the spirit. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. (Ephesians 6:12). The Serpent, or Dragon is the embodiment of that spiritual wickedness in high places, for Satan is the ruler of this world, and thus only by putting on the Christ-nature are we in any way equipped to resist him.
In Isaiah 34:11 in the day of the LORD's vengeance, although described as a positive action by God (2 For the indignation of the LORD is upon all nations, and his fury upon all their armies: he hath utterly destroyed them, he hath delivered them to the slaughter), God effectively abandons all those who follow iniquity to Satan's embrace; to the Dragon's jaws...and He shall stretch out upon it the line of confusion, and the stones of emptiness... 'stretch' or elongation, are as used for 'dragon'. Satan's reward is always confusion and emptiness, whereas the Lord is certainty, safety and fullness. They shall call the nobles thereof to the kingdom, but none shall be there... there shall be no one in the Kingdom, for Satan has swallowed them all, leaving not even the dried bones ...and thorns shall come up in the palaces ...and it shall be an habitation of dragons, and a court for owls.
The Kingdom of Heaven will never be a habitation of dragons for ...they shall see the glory of The Lord, and the excellency of our God ...and the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away. (Isaiah 35)
The Princess flees towards us - out of the picture frame - Revelation 12:6 And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days*. Here she will be redeemed and restored.
Hebrews 12:22 But ye are come unto Mount Sion, and unto the city of the living GOD, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels. Behind St George and the Dragon we have Zion, city of our God, awaiting the Redeemed.
Matthew 21:5 Tell ye the daughter of sion, Behold, thy king cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass. Presiding over the eternal city (which was also a name for Venice) in a swirl of heavenly cloud sits God enthroned in light. Psalm 50:2 Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God hath shined.
The word of God is always a word for today, for this moment. If St George were to procrastinate, the Princess would have been consumed, however - as Revelation speaks - the woman is due to give birth, and it is the child that the dragon seeks to devour, which is the Christ-life within us**.
There is a war in heaven raging continually over what our choice will be. Do we leave ourselves open to be preyed upon by the Serpent, or do we instead choose to be born again from above, redeemed by Christ for eternal life in the city of the living God?
Revelation 12:5 And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.
'George' derives from the Greek giorgios, meaning a husbandman or farmer (as in husbandry). A husband (house-band) keeps the house and family together, and references in Scripture to the husband are usuaully as a type of Christ; thus Boaz in the book of Ruth, and 'the Beloved' in Song of Solomon. In Isaiah 54:5 we read For thy maker is thine husband; the Lord of Hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall he be called.
It can be readily inferred that St George represents Christ in the heavenly battle against Satan - the Dragon - the great dragon..., that old serpent, called the Devil and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world. (Revelation 12:9).
The word translated as 'dragon' or 'serpent', comes from the Hebrew meaning to elongate, as in preternaturally formed - twisted out of shape - a monster, sea-serpent, jackal or whale. The same word was used to describe the serpent in the story of Adam and Eve. In Genesis 3:13 it says And the Lord God said unto the woman, What is this thou hast done? And the woman said The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat'.
The Princess shows a type for God's church; 'the body of Christ'; 'the Bride'. As woman she needs a husband (Christ; the head of the body) to battle her assailant in the heavenly realms - for surely the head directs the body - and ensure her safety from Satan's wiles; to keep the serpent at bay lest he twist her to his purposes.
This is a picture of what goes on within us in the spirit. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. (Ephesians 6:12). The Serpent, or Dragon is the embodiment of that spiritual wickedness in high places, for Satan is the ruler of this world, and thus only by putting on the Christ-nature are we in any way equipped to resist him.
In Isaiah 34:11 in the day of the LORD's vengeance, although described as a positive action by God (2 For the indignation of the LORD is upon all nations, and his fury upon all their armies: he hath utterly destroyed them, he hath delivered them to the slaughter), God effectively abandons all those who follow iniquity to Satan's embrace; to the Dragon's jaws...and He shall stretch out upon it the line of confusion, and the stones of emptiness... 'stretch' or elongation, are as used for 'dragon'. Satan's reward is always confusion and emptiness, whereas the Lord is certainty, safety and fullness. They shall call the nobles thereof to the kingdom, but none shall be there... there shall be no one in the Kingdom, for Satan has swallowed them all, leaving not even the dried bones ...and thorns shall come up in the palaces ...and it shall be an habitation of dragons, and a court for owls.
The Kingdom of Heaven will never be a habitation of dragons for ...they shall see the glory of The Lord, and the excellency of our God ...and the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away. (Isaiah 35)
The Princess flees towards us - out of the picture frame - Revelation 12:6 And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days*. Here she will be redeemed and restored.
Hebrews 12:22 But ye are come unto Mount Sion, and unto the city of the living GOD, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels. Behind St George and the Dragon we have Zion, city of our God, awaiting the Redeemed.
Matthew 21:5 Tell ye the daughter of sion, Behold, thy king cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass. Presiding over the eternal city (which was also a name for Venice) in a swirl of heavenly cloud sits God enthroned in light. Psalm 50:2 Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God hath shined.
The word of God is always a word for today, for this moment. If St George were to procrastinate, the Princess would have been consumed, however - as Revelation speaks - the woman is due to give birth, and it is the child that the dragon seeks to devour, which is the Christ-life within us**.
There is a war in heaven raging continually over what our choice will be. Do we leave ourselves open to be preyed upon by the Serpent, or do we instead choose to be born again from above, redeemed by Christ for eternal life in the city of the living God?
Revelation 12:5 And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.
* The numerology of Scripture is a large subject and this is not really the place to discuss it in any depth, but 1260 has significance in Revelation particularly. In Revelation 11:3 we have And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.
It has become evidence for a 'Two Witness' company of believers. It is a multiple of 30 and 42.
30, some think represents the age of spiritual maturity and of the manifestation of sonship, because this was the age when Jesus began His ministry, while 42 is thought of as representing God's church as the 42nd generation mentioned at the beginning of Matthew's Gospel (Jesus being the 41st generation). There were 42 encampments before the children of Israel entered the Promised Land after their sojourn in the wilderness, which has a particular resonance here.
** In relation to the Princess, as the woman representing the Church of God; Christ the head, joined as the husband with His Bride, the body, will give birth to a many-membered man-child which will fulfil the plan of God. In relation to note *, some sources use 42 weeks as the term for pregnancy, although today most will say 38 weeks acknowledging that it varies between 37 and 43 weeks for full term; thus another layer of meaning could apply to the numerology exegesis.
It has become evidence for a 'Two Witness' company of believers. It is a multiple of 30 and 42.
30, some think represents the age of spiritual maturity and of the manifestation of sonship, because this was the age when Jesus began His ministry, while 42 is thought of as representing God's church as the 42nd generation mentioned at the beginning of Matthew's Gospel (Jesus being the 41st generation). There were 42 encampments before the children of Israel entered the Promised Land after their sojourn in the wilderness, which has a particular resonance here.
** In relation to the Princess, as the woman representing the Church of God; Christ the head, joined as the husband with His Bride, the body, will give birth to a many-membered man-child which will fulfil the plan of God. In relation to note *, some sources use 42 weeks as the term for pregnancy, although today most will say 38 weeks acknowledging that it varies between 37 and 43 weeks for full term; thus another layer of meaning could apply to the numerology exegesis.
