Saint George

Schongauer depicted Saint George in two formats: rectangular (below) and circular. The compositions differed dramatically. For the rectangular print, the saint bears down on top of the beast from the left, as the princess waits on the hill above for deliverance. In the more intimate roundel, George has already wounded his prey. Reeling backward into the curve of the circular plate mark, the dragon clasps the broken end of the lance as if it were an engraver’s burin.