Description

This intricate statuette is composed of around 20 separate pieces. Its subject is Saint George, the patron saint of England, known for slaying a dragon. Clad in fantastical, skin-tight armor, he stands atop a stylized base that alludes to the vanquished dragon’s body.

Saint George was designed by Alfred Gilbert to adorn the lavish tomb for Queen Victoria’s grandson Prince Albert Victor, who died prematurely in 1892. The queen personally installed the first version of the sculpture at Windsor Castle in 1898. Gilbert had this bronze replica produced a year later to sell to a private collector.

Provenance

The artist; sold to Robert Dunthorne, 1899; sold to William Vivian, 1899; by descent to Prudence Molesworth-St Aubyn; by descent to private collection, Great Britain; sold through Patrick Bourne & Co., London, to the Art Institute of Chicago, 2025.

Saint George

Alfred Gilbert

Cast 1899

Accession Number

279902

Medium

Bronze

Dimensions

H.: 45.7 cm (18 in.); Including base: H.: 53 cm (20 7/8 in.)

Classification

sculpture

Museum

The Art Institute of Chicago

Chicago, United States

Credit Line

Purchased with funds provided by Anne Searle Bent and the Roy and Irene Rettinger Foundation; European Painting and Sculpture Fund; purchased with funds provided by an anonymous donor, the Alsdorf Foundation, and Frances and Edward Blair