7 - Emily Lau - Paolo Uccello: Saint George and the Dragon

Paolo Uccello was an Italian painter who is most remembered for his work on visual perspective. Numerous anecdotes about Uccello suggest that he was obsessed with perspective and spent a great deal of time attempting to undertand vanishing points and depth. His work is often classified as "Late Gothic," which has an emphasis on color and pagentry. Little is actually known about Uccello historically as few records have remained. His work is often considered to be "idiosyncratic" as he had no school of followers.

The painting above, titled "Saint George and the Dragon" shows two episodes from the story of Saint George: (1) Saint George's defeat of the "plague-bearing" dragon that had been terrorizing the city and (2) the rescued princess brining the dragon to his knees with her belt as a leash. You can see that in the upper right corner of the painting, a storm is gathering. The storm lines line up with Saint George' lance, drawing attention to Saint George as he attacks the dragon. Many scholars interpret the connection between the lance and the storm to be symbolic of divine intervention helping Saint George to victory. The angle at which Saint George attacks the dragon (as indicated by his lance) also helps to establish a 3-D perspective. Additionally, the use of warm colors toward the front and cool colors in the back help to establish a depth in the painting, as warm colors come toward the viewer and cool colors tend to go away. The size of the images (larger in the front, smaller as you go farther back) also reinforces the 3-D quality of this painting. Finally, the strange patchwork of grass in the front of the image also helps to contribute a sense of perspective and depth in the picture.