Raffello, san giorgio e il dragio, 1503-1505, 01

A knight in dark armor on a rearing white horse delivers a final blow to a dark, winged dragon. Pieces of a shattered red-and-white lance lie on the green landscape, marking the struggle that preceded the kill. In the distance, a small female figure in a pink gown runs toward a rocky outcrop under a soft blue sky.

This work represents the 'psychomachia' or the battle of the soul against evil, which was interpreted by Renaissance thinkers as the triumph of divine reason over base animal passions and material chaos. The dragon serves as a potent symbol of the corrosive elements of the physical world that must be overcome through chivalric and spiritual discipline.