The saint stands triumphantly on the vanquished dragon, which is lying on its back, writhing in its death throes. Saint George is clad in mid-15th century knightly armour, from beneath which the long hanging split sleeves typical of the period cascade in undulating folds; he has thrust his (lost) spear into the beast’s snout ruthlessly, with both hands, so that the spearhead protrudes from the back of the dragon’s head. The scene symbolises how faith, embodied by St George, conquers evil in the form of the dragon.
In terms of iconography, the figural group is still couched in the tradition of the International Soft Style in which the emphasis on the beauty of expression is growing weaker, while a more pronounced tectonic stylisation and deliberately realistic features are coming to the fore. Emilijan Cevc points to possible influences of the carving workshops in South Tyrol or the Carnic Alps, while also comparing this sculpture with several contemporaneous carved works from the Upper Carniola region; the workshop from which this group of sculptures originated is thought to have been based in Kranj or Škofja Loka.
Provenance: Gabrska gora above Litija, Chapel of St
George