Paolo Uccello, St. George and the Dragon 325 by Andy Warhol is one of four screenprints from his 1984 reinterpretation of Paolo Uccello’s Renaissance masterpiece. Warhol crops tightly into the original composition, isolating the young woman and the dragon while omitting St. George himself. In this variation, glowing crimson, magenta, and violet dominate the background, while brilliant oranges and yellows illuminate the dragon’s curling horn and sweeping wing. Meanwhile, the pale figure of the maiden provides a quiet counterpoint to the surrounding intensity. The vivid palette transforms Uccello’s restrained composition into an unmistakably Pop image.
A Renaissance Master Reimagined
Paolo Uccello, St. George and the Dragon 325 belongs to Warhol’s Details of Renaissance Paintings series, which revisits celebrated masterpieces through the language of Pop Art. Rather than reproducing the entire painting, Warhol enlarges a single detail. He then transforms it with bold synthetic color. Consequently, the familiar medieval story becomes something entirely new. To learn more about the complete series, read our feature article, Warhol’s Renaissance Redux: A Modern Gaze on Timeless Masterpieces.
St. George and the Dragon 325 in Warhol’s Larger Body of Work
Throughout his career, Warhol isolated familiar images and presented them from unexpected perspectives. He approached Renaissance paintings much as he approached celebrities and consumer products. Moreover, he removed St. George from the composition entirely. The viewer instead focuses on the dramatic exchange between the maiden and the dragon. As a result, color and form become just as important as narrative.
Today, collectors prize Paolo Uccello, St. George and the Dragon 325 for its vibrant palette and inventive reinterpretation of a Renaissance icon. The print preserves Uccello’s elegant draftsmanship while demonstrating Warhol’s remarkable ability to bridge classical art and modern Pop culture.
Photo credit: Artwork that inspired Warhol by Paolo Uccello titled St. George and the Dragon, c. 1470. Courtesy of the National Gallery in London.