St. Georg III

St George killing the dragon is the emblem on the coat of arms of Moscow, the city where Kandinsky was born, and in 1911 the saint became one of the central figures of his work. He painted him on glass at least three times and on canvas three times. The first canvas is in a private collection in Switzerland, the second in St Petersburg, and this one, painted in tempera, is the third. The Lenbachhaus also owns a glass picture with the same title, which is a different work. On this canvas the knight is hard to find. He has moved to the left and almost dissolved, driving his lance straight down into the jaws of the dragon below him. The dragon's pale body seems to melt into its surroundings, while its tail whips up across the whole picture. Nearly everything is white, broken only by the yellow and pink of the dragon and the blue and green glow around the saint.