Vittore Carfaccio (1440?-1522)
t. George, a noble youth of Cappadocia, was one of the oldest and most noted of the saints. The story always told of him is his killing the dragon. Once upon a time St. George was going through Palestine on horseback when he came to the City of Beirut. There he found a beautiful young girl in royal dress weeping outside the walls of the city. When he asked her why she was crying, she told him that a terrible dragon lived in the marshes near the city. And to keep him from destroying every one in the city, each day two young girls must be fed to him. These young girls were chosen by lot, and this day she, Cleodolinda, the king's daughter, must be eaten by the dragon.
St. George told her not to be afraid for he would destroy the dragon. But she cried:
"O noble youth, tarry not here, lest thou perish with me! but fly, I beseech thee!" St. George answered:
"God forbid that I should fly! I will lift my hand against the loathly thing, and will deliver thee through the power of Jesus Christ!"
Then St. George, rushed at the dragon and thrust his spear into his mouth and conquered him. He then took the young girl's mantle and bound the beast, and she led him into the city to her father. That day twenty thousand people of the city were baptized.
As time went on the name of St. George became very great. From the time that Richard I—the Lion-Hearted—placed his army under the protection of St. George the saint became the patron saint of England. In 1330 the order of the Garter, the highest order of knighthood in Great Britain, was founded and on its emblem is a picture of St. George and the dragon.
Carpaccio, a Venetian artist, painted this picture of "St. George and the Dragon." He painted many other stories of saints.