Saint George and the Dragon (Notke)

Saint George and the Dragon (Swedish: Sankt Göran och draken) is a late medieval wooden sculpture depicting the motif of Saint George and the Dragon, located in Storkyrkan in , Sweden. It is attributed to Bernt Notke and was commissioned by the Swedish regent Sten Sture the Elder. It was inaugurated in 1489. It has been described as an artistic high point in the artistic production of Bernt Notke.

The statue was commissioned by Sten Sture the Elder following his victory over the Danish army in the Battle of Brunkeberg in 1471. During the battle, Sten Sture put his army under the protection of Saint George. Although not signed by him, the sculpture is widely attributed to the workshop of Bernt Notke. Notke, who had his workshop in Lübeck, lived in Sweden between 1491 and 1497 and was a frequent visitor to the country before that. The sculpture was inaugurated on New Year's Eve 1489 by a papal nuncio.

The symbolism of the sculpture can be interpreted in religious and political terms and as a funerary monument over the person Sten Sture. On the one hand it resonates with a cult of St. George that enjoyed widespread popularity in Scandinavia during this time, a popularity that also stemmed from the ideals of chivalry which it expressed. It can also been seen, and it was intended to be seen, as a victory monument commemorating the Swedish victory over the Danish army; it has been noted that the plume feathers of the saint are blue and yellow, the Swedish national colours. Lastly, it was used as a funerary monument for Sten Sture himself, who was for a short while buried in the base of the sculpture and whose heraldic insignia appear again and again on the sculpture. Notke's monument apparently fulfilled these different roles simultaneously; Jeffrey Chipps Smith relates that the figure of St. George was removed from the horse and carried in a procession to the site of the battle (just outside Stockholm) on 10 October annually (the date of the battle) to celebrate the victory and give praise to St. George.

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