3 minutes to read the story of a hero | art

In many Western countries, men, women and children have heard of this name: St. George.' St. George is a saint to most Westerners, but he is better known for his heroic deeds of "slaying dragons".

Legend has it that in the eastern part of the Roman Empire, there was a city that had long been bullied by dragons, and the inhabitants of it were required to sacrifice two sheep to the dragons at regular intervals. But as time passed, there were fewer and fewer sheep in the city, and the dragon said, "In that case, give me a maiden every day!" ”

Because people were afraid of the dragon and did not dare to disobey it, they had to decide by lottery which daughter would sacrifice the dragon.

Soon after, it was the king's turn to be the king's daughter. The king was very reluctant to sacrifice his daughter to the dragon, so the king prayed to his people, hoping that someone else could replace the princess, but no one was willing to sacrifice his daughter, and there was no way for the king to sacrifice his princess to the dragon. Just when the king was at a loss to rescue his daughter, St. George came to the city. The story of heroes saving the United States is always staged in history, and this time is naturally no exception. St. George took a spear and rode a white horse to the dragon, killing the dragon and successfully rescuing the princess.

This feat was praised by later generations and began to deify St. George, who thus became the patron saint of England. Today, I want to introduce you to "St. George's Dragon Slaying" painted by Peter Paul Rubens.

Rubens, 17th-century Flanders painter, outstanding representative of early Baroque art, diplomatic envoy of the Spanish Habsburg dynasty. Born into an ordinary family, Rubens followed his mother back to Antwerp, then under Spanish rule, at the age of 12 after the death of his father, where he was baptized in Catholicism. Religion thus became a very important theme in his artistic career.

Portrait of Rubens

In 1600, at the age of 23, Rubens went on a study tour to Italy. During his study tour, he served as a court painter, traveling through Florence, Rome, Venice and other places, along the way he met many masters, and carefully studied, copying the works of many Italian masters. Rubens' copying is mainly divided into two types: one is meticulous, almost can be faked; the other is both the shadow of the original and the spirit of Rubens, in other words, the second way is to innovate on the basis of inheriting the original, and "St. George's Dragon Slaying" belongs to the second.

St. George Slaying the Dragon by Rubens

As we all know, the dragon is a symbol of nobility in China, but in the West it is a representative of the evil forces. Western heroes always show their heroism by slaying dragons. Rubens's St. George's Slaying the Dragon is a copy of Raphael's St. George Slaying the Dragon, but the two works have very different styles.

Looking closely, we will find that Raphael's St. George is more beautiful, looking like a "Mulan" dressed as a woman, while Rubens' St. George looks more tough and strong, and the portrayal of muscle strength and lines highlights his masculine nature, like a very bold "Lu Zhishen".

The picture above is drawn by Raphael, and the picture below is drawn by Rubens

Let's look at the image of the dragon. Raphael's dragon, armed with a "spear", but the spear has been broken, and only the blade of St. George awaits it;

On the other hand, rubens's dragon, although the spear has been broken in the hand, it actually uses the other hand, holding the broken gun, and fights viciously like a trapped beast.

Finally, let's look at the "Female No. 1" in the painting, the images of the two heroines are also very different, Raphael's girl, slim and beautiful, while Rubens's girl is white and round.

Throughout the whole work, Raphael's "St. George Slaying the Dragon" looks more beautiful, to a certain extent, there is a legendary deification color, the male protagonist in the picture seems to have a divinity, feeling that St. George is with the help of God, easily eradicating the dragon. The entire work perfectly shows the typical feature of Renaissance art: the perfect combination of God and man.

Rubens' copy of St. George's Dragon Slayer looks full of dynamic and powerful beauty. It is more like a contest between the two armies, as if a fierce war is about to start, the moment when the picture freezes seems to have the upper hand, but the dragon seems to be able to fight back at any time, the whole work looks more rhythmic and passionate, and the magnificent performance of the scene shows the characteristics of the Baroque art style.

Although the two works express the same subject, they have very different styles in terms of expression techniques and painting techniques, which is inextricably linked to the time period in which the two painters are located.

Raphael combines the real world with religious deification more when depicting, while Rubens is different, he pays more attention to realistic depiction, more attention to the portrayal of details. If Raphael's works embody the beautiful vision of human and divine coexistence, then Rubens' works reflect more of the real reactions of real life. This also confirms the saying that "there are a thousand Hamlets in the minds of a thousand people", different people will have different ideas when looking at the same thing, and the existence of art is to reflect the differences of each of us, this is art, but also life.