Saint George
sculptor
Unknown
Dateabout 1500-1510
Place MadeGermany, Europe
MediumPolychromed and gilded wood
Dimensions179.1 x 27.9 x 41.9 cm (70 1/2 x 11 x 16 1/2 in.)
ClassificationsSculpture
Credit LineIsabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston
Accession numberS4n1
eMuseum ID728462
EmbARK ObjectID13091
TMS Source ID2099
Last Updated8/14/24
Status
Not on viewWeb CommentaryThis painted wood sculpture depicts Saint George, the patron saint of England and Ethiopia. He holds a lance over the dragon at his feet, slain for terrorizing the town of Silene, Libya. This figure, along with the neighboring sculpture of Saint Florian, was originally a symbolic guardian of a monumental altarpiece in early 16th-century Bavaria. It seems fitting that Isabella placed the two saints at the formal entrance of the museum to supervise the passageway.
BibliographyNotesCatalogue. Fenway Court. (Boston, 1903), p. 3. (as "German gothic")
Gilbert Wendel Longstreet and Morris Carter. General Catalogue (Boston, 1935), p. 41. (as Southern German, early 17th century)
Charles L. Kuhn. "German Late Gothic Sculpture in the Gardner Museum, Boston" in Wilhelm Reinhold Walter Koehler (ed.). Medieval Studies in Memory of A. Kingsley Porter (Cambridge, 1939), pp. 565-66, 568, fig. 5. (as Tyrolese, about 1490-1500)
Morris Carter. "Mrs. Gardner & The Treasures of Fenway Court" in Alfred M. Frankfurter (ed.). The Gardner Collection (New York, 1946), p. 57, ill.
Anneliese Harding. German Sculpture in New England Museums (Boston, 1972), p. 83. (as a "19th century imitation of a late Gothic figure")
Cornelius C. Vermeule III et al. Sculpture in the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (Boston, 1977), p. 91, no. 119. (as Bavarian or Tyrolean, about 1500-1510)
Rollin van N. Hadley. Museums Discovered: The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (Boston, 1981), pp. 166-167, ill. (as Bavarian or Tyrolean, about 1500-1510)
Jürgen Rohmeder. Erasmus Grasser: Bildhauer, Bau- Und Werkmeister (Bern, 2003), p. 110. (included in a list of sculptures for future study; possibly by Erasmus Grasser)
Gilbert Wendel Longstreet and Morris Carter. General Catalogue (Boston, 1935), p. 41. (as Southern German, early 17th century)
Charles L. Kuhn. "German Late Gothic Sculpture in the Gardner Museum, Boston" in Wilhelm Reinhold Walter Koehler (ed.). Medieval Studies in Memory of A. Kingsley Porter (Cambridge, 1939), pp. 565-66, 568, fig. 5. (as Tyrolese, about 1490-1500)
Morris Carter. "Mrs. Gardner & The Treasures of Fenway Court" in Alfred M. Frankfurter (ed.). The Gardner Collection (New York, 1946), p. 57, ill.
Anneliese Harding. German Sculpture in New England Museums (Boston, 1972), p. 83. (as a "19th century imitation of a late Gothic figure")
Cornelius C. Vermeule III et al. Sculpture in the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (Boston, 1977), p. 91, no. 119. (as Bavarian or Tyrolean, about 1500-1510)
Rollin van N. Hadley. Museums Discovered: The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (Boston, 1981), pp. 166-167, ill. (as Bavarian or Tyrolean, about 1500-1510)
Jürgen Rohmeder. Erasmus Grasser: Bildhauer, Bau- Und Werkmeister (Bern, 2003), p. 110. (included in a list of sculptures for future study; possibly by Erasmus Grasser)
ProvenanceNotesPurchased by Isabella Stewart Gardner from the art dealer Theodor Einstein & Co., Munich with a second statue of Saint Florian (museum no. S4n3) for a total of 2,460 marks on 16 August 1897 through her husband, John L. Gardner, Jr. (1837–1898).
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