St. George
1949
25 1/8 x 19 in. (63.8 x 48.3 cm)
Alfonsas Dargis
United States
(Mazeikiai, Lithuania, 1909 - 1996, Friedrichshafen, Germany)
Object Type:
Print
Medium and Support:
Linocut
Credit Line:
Bequest of Isabel C. Herdle
Accession Number:
2005.133
Location: Not currently on view
St. George is a very important figure in Lithuanian culture, even appearing on the country’s coat of arms. He is a protector from evil and a guardian of cattle. His feast day, April 23, is celebrated with many agricultural traditions (perhaps the reason for the stems that flank the saint’s name in the print). Dargis has illustrated the familiar legend of St. George killing the dragon, but given it his own expressive form, with the small white horse pitted against the writhing dragon, whose tail winds all the way around the mother and child. Like the proper knight that he was believed to be, St. George is suited in armor and holds a shield that is anachronistically decorated with an image of himself!
[Gallery label text, 2011]