3-037-676 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Saint George and the Dragon; Book of Hours, about 1450-1455. Additional Info:The illuminator playfully linked border and miniature in this image accompanying a prayer to Saint George. In the miniature, the mounted knight, Saint George, rescues a princess from a dragon. In the border, her parents, a pagan king and queen, watch from a castle tower on the sidelines, almost crowded off the page by enormous stalks of foliage. According to legend, the people of the kingdom converted to Christianity following their deliverance from the dragon's attacks. The dramatic and exuberant acanthus border provides a fitting counterpart to the elegant miniature featuring the equestrian hero and the princess. The brightly colored sinuous foliage echoes Saint George's flowing, elaborately scalloped cape, further uniting the framed miniature and the border.