Reliëf van een ruiter te paard die een draak verslaat van de San Marco in Venetië before 1885

Carl Heinrich Jacobi captured this relief of a horseman slaying a dragon in the San Marco, Venice. A horseman plunges his spear into a dragon, a timeless image of triumph over chaos. Consider how this scene echoes the myth of Saint George, but also the ancient hero myths of Persia and Greece. We find such images across cultures; a lone figure confronting primordial darkness. Think of Perseus battling the sea monster Cetus to save Andromeda, a narrative brimming with similar motifs. The dragon, embodying fear and the unknown, reappears throughout history. From the biblical Leviathan to the dragons of the Far East, it symbolizes what we collectively dread. Our subconscious imbues these images with power, representing inner turmoil and external threats. The act of slaying the dragon becomes a ritual, a symbolic victory against the shadows of our own psyches. This relief is not merely a depiction of a single event; it is a recurring dream, forever etched in our collective consciousness.