St. George and the Dragon
On the left is a Renaissance revival brooch of Saint George killing the Dragon, decorated with polychrome enamel, accented with step cut rubies and emeralds, and with what I presume to be an enameled Uffington Castle in the background of an enameled field. On the right is a woodcut, also of Saint George killing the Dragon, in black and white with what appears to be a light beige tinted hue. Methinks they’re both rather gorgeous. So, some few of you may well ask, who was Saint George? It is said that he was a soldier, venerated in Christianity, who defeated a dragon at Dragon Hill in Uffington, England. As the story goes, the dragon originally extorted tribute from villagers, presumably of the area, and when the villagers ran out of livestock and trinkets for the dragon, selfish beast that he was, they started giving him his requested human tribute once a year.