''St George'' is a marble sculpture by

Donatello Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi ( – 13 December 1466), better known as Donatello ( ), was a Florentine sculptor of the Renaissance period. Born in Florence, he studied classical sculpture and used this to develop a complete Renaissance s ...

. It is one of fourteen sculptures commissioned by the

guilds of Florence The guilds of Florence were secular corporations that controlled the arts and trades in Florence from the twelfth into the sixteenth century. These ''Arti'' included seven major guilds (collectively known as the ''Arti Maggiori''), five middle gui ...

to decorate the external niches of the

Orsanmichele Orsanmichele (; "Kitchen Garden of St. Michael", from the Tuscan contraction of the Italian word ''orto'') is a church in the Italian city of Florence. The building was constructed on the site of the kitchen garden of the monastery of San Mich ...

church. St. George was commissioned by the guild of the armorers and sword makers, the Arte dei Corazzai e Spadai. A stone thrown at the sculpture in 1858 broke its nose, and in 1892 Donatello's ''St. George'' was moved to the Bargello Museum in Florence. From 1892 to 2008 a bronze replica was placed in the original niche, to be replaced by a marble replica on 23 April 2008. The original sculpture was stolen from the Villa Medici in Poggio a Caiano, but in May 1945 it was recovered by

Frederick Hartt Frederick Hartt (1914–1991) was an Italian Renaissance scholar, author and professor of art history. His books include ''History of Italian Renaissance Art'', '' Art: A History of Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture ''(two volumes), ''Miche ...

in Neumelans in the

South Tyrol it, Provincia Autonoma di Bolzano – Alto Adige lld, Provinzia Autonoma de Balsan/Bulsan – Südtirol , settlement_type = Autonomous area, Autonomous Provinces of Italy, province , image_skyline = ...

and returned to Florence on 20 July 1945. The box base was added back onto the statue in 1976.

Description

Saint George is sculptured as a young, brave, determined and strong man in armor. He is not standing in

contrapposto ''Contrapposto'' () is an Italian term that means "counterpoise". It is used in the visual arts to describe a human figure standing with most of its weight on one foot, so that its shoulders and arms twist off-axis from the hips and legs in the ...

, although his right leg is turned to the same angle as his shield, visibly his weight is on both legs. Even though he is fully clothed, there is still the sense of a muscular body underneath. His right hand originally probably held some sort of a

blade A blade is the portion of a tool, weapon, or machine with an edge that is designed to puncture, chop, slice or scrape surfaces or materials. Blades are typically made from materials that are harder than those they are to be used on. Histor ...

. Drill marks on his head indicate, that he probably also wore some kind of helmet or

wreath A wreath () is an assortment of flowers, leaves, fruits, twigs, or various materials that is constructed to form a circle . In English-speaking countries, wreaths are used typically as household ornaments, most commonly as an Advent and Chri ...

. St George's eyes are looking up and his face indicates some kind of anxiety and emotionality before attacking the dragon. His eyebrows are knit together and there are wrinkles on his forehead.

Relief

There is a stone relief under the figure, that is displaying a woman observing St George slaying the dragon in the middle. There is a cave on the right, colonnade on the left and the relief also has a background with trees. The closets objects are carved in relatively high relief, whereas the cave, the colonnade and the background trees are carved in low relief. This technique is called Stiacciato.

References

{{Donatello Sculptures by Donatello

George George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd Presid ...

Sculptures of the Bargello Stolen works of art Vandalized works of art Saint George (martyr)