St. George Slaying the Dragon 1470 - 1491

Editor: This is Martin Schongauer's "Saint George Slaying the Dragon," created sometime between 1470 and 1491. It's an engraving. The level of detail is remarkable; it’s amazing that this was created so long ago! What do you find most captivating about this piece? Curator: Captivating is precisely the right word. It has an arresting power! This engraving feels like stepping into a dream—a rather vivid, slightly unsettling dream, perhaps. Schongauer was a master of line, and you can almost feel the scratch of the engraver’s tool as he teases out these forms from a blank plate of copper. Editor: I hadn’t thought about it that way – like feeling the physical creation. Curator: Think of the pressure needed to force that line into being; those minuscule, deliberate scratches build up to tell an entire epic saga. I always come back to the formal aspects: look at the contrast he achieves with simple hatching. Notice how the figures seem to almost tumble out of the circular composition, straining at its edges! Editor: Now that you mention it, the round format feels unique for such a dynamic scene. Curator: Absolutely! That tension – that near-bursting energy, like contained chaos – adds to its potency. Saint George becomes almost too powerful. He might very well bust right out of this plane! And you might even wonder: What does it really mean to slay a dragon? Is he also slaying something in himself? Or perhaps in all of us? Editor: Wow, I hadn't even considered it that deeply. I was focused on the craftsmanship and detail! Now I see so many more layers. Curator: Exactly. It reminds me that even in the most epic tale, there is room for introspection, for us all to explore who the dragons in our own lives really are.