Fight 1928

Nicholas Roerich painted "Fight," sometime in the first half of the 20th century. The image depicts a knight on horseback, with spear in hand, doing battle with a dragon-like monster in a mountainous landscape. Roerich was deeply interested in Eastern religions and philosophies, and he often incorporated themes from folklore, mythology, and spirituality into his art. Here, the medieval knight is a cultural reference that evokes ideas of chivalry, religious crusade, and the fight between good and evil. In Russia at the beginning of the twentieth century, there was renewed interest in national identity, including in folk stories and orthodox Christianity. Roerich’s knight can be seen as part of this nationalistic cultural trend. The politics of imagery are such that we must ask, what does the knight stand for? Who is the dragon? To understand this, we must consult historical sources, from folklore to political documents, so that we can understand the conditions that made this image meaningful.