Most people who have been to or driven past St Georges Park know the Cenotaph (war memorial) in front of the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Art Museum. I wonder though how many people know that one of the figures forming part of the Cenotaph is St George himself, sheathing his sword moments after killing the dragon.
St George's dragon slaying story is told as follow on Wikipedia:
"...a dragon or crocodile makes its nest at the spring that provides water for the city of "Silene" (perhaps modern Cyrene in Libya or the city of Lydda in the Holy Land, depending on the source). Consequently, the citizens have to dislodge the dragon from its nest for a time, to collect water. To do so, each day they offer the dragon at first a sheep, and if no sheep can be found, then a maiden must go instead of the sheep. The victim is chosen by drawing lots. One day, this happens to be the princess. The monarch begs for her life to be spared, but to no avail. She is offered to the dragon, but there appears Saint George on his travels. He faces the dragon, protects himself with the sign of the Cross, slays the dragon, and rescues the princess. The citizens abandon their ancestral paganism and convert to Christianity."
I think this is the first time I've seen St George depicted this way. He's usually just about to slay the dragon in all images I've seen. Interesting.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting information on the Cenotaph here:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.stgeorgespark.nmmu.ac.za/content/thepark/displayarticle.asp?artid=thepark_009