The veneration of St. George, a Palestinian Christian soldier (d. ca. 303), as a symbol of chivalry and courage in overcoming seemingly insurmountable evil, is distilled in the legend of his killing a dragon. This dragon, terrorizing a whole country, was appeased by offerings of animals or people selected by lot. When the lot fell to the king's daughter, George came to her rescue. After thrusting his lance through the dragon, incapacitating it, he promised to kill it if the king and his subjects became Christians, which they did.
By the 1600s, the existence of dragons was disputed by many naturalists, but the symbolism of a knight who vanquishes evil through the power of God-for which he here gives thanks-retained its currency in secular literature as well as religious practice.
<bdi><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Cesare_Rossetti" class="extiw" title="w:en:Cesare Rossetti"><span title="Italian painter">Cesare Rossetti</span></a>
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between 1620 and 1644 <div style="display: none;">date QS:P571,+1650-00-00T00:00:00Z/7,P1319,+1620-00-00T00:00:00Z/9,P1326,+1644-00-00T00:00:00Z/9</div>
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