Raffaello - inv 529 E

A dynamic pen-and-ink study of the Christian knight Saint George engaged in battle with a serpentine dragon. The knight is depicted from behind on a rearing charger, moments before the fatal strike, while the background shows a faint, hilly landscape. The fluid line work captures the intensity of movement and the physical tension of the encounter.

The motif of the knight slaying the dragon represents the archetypal victory of solar clarity and divine order over chaotic, chthonic forces, a theme often mapped onto Neoplatonic concepts of the soul's struggle against material bondage.