St. George On Horseback - Albrecht Dürer, 1508. (Medieval Knight Artwork)
This vintage art print shows Saint George riding forward in full armor, holding a banner with a cross while his horse steps over the body of a dragon. The whole scene is drawn in fine engraved lines on a warm parchment style background, so you can see the metal plates, the horse’s muscles and the dragon at his feet without the picture feeling crowded. It works well in a study, hallway or reading corner where you want a small, focused scene with a clear story and a bit of drama.
About this art print
This print is based on St George on Horseback, an engraving made by the German artist Albrecht Dürer and dated 1508. on the original. Dürer is best known for his technically precise woodcuts and engravings, and this print belongs to the same period as his studies of horses and armor, like Small Horse and Large Horse. In the original, the whole image fits into a sheet only about 11 by 8.5 centimeters, but the composition is still carefully balanced: saint, horse and dragon form a tight group that fills the space without wasting any line.
Dürer shows George from the side so the story is easy to read at a glance. The horse steps forward, the knight sits upright in plate armor, and the banner with the cross rises above them. The dragon lies twisted on the ground under the hooves, with wings and tail pressed down so you know the fight is over. A simple rocky foreground and a light horizon line finish the scene without pulling attention away from the main figures.
Renaissance artists came back to this saint-and-dragon story many times, but each one pictured the creature a little differently. In Dürer’s version the dragon is small and tightly coiled, almost like a knot at the horse’s feet, which feels very different from the long, stretched body like in the Dragon illustration by Friedrich Justin Bertuch. Together they show how the same idea of a dragon could shift from a compact symbol of “evil defeated” into a calm, almost natural history study of a mythical animal.
Craft & finish
This St George and the dragon art print is made on hand processed paper, highlighted with subtle gold and sealed with beeswax so it feels close to real parchment when you hold it. The surface catches the light softly on the texture of the paper, but colors can look a little different from screen to screen.
You can find more pieces like this in our Vintage Art Prints collection.
St. George On Horseback (Albrecht Dürer, 1508.) - Vintage Art Print
In case your print creases during the travel, as it usually does travel for some time, you can safely warm it up with a hair-dryer, and the wax will melt back right into it. You can also use a lighter, which is a much faster method, but be careful to keep the flame either above the paper or parallel to it (which means holding the paper vertically) so it doesn't smudge or even catch fire. The chance of the print actually creasing is very small, as they are rolled in bubble-wrap and shipped in a cardboard box. Also, be sure to keep the print out of the direct sunlight, as it can melt or fade.
Visit the link below to see more about how our replicas are made, how to display them, and repair the damage:
https://www.artifex-replicas.com/post/about-our-parchment-replicas
