St. George on horseback

St. George on Horseback was the last work before Dürer's sudden departure on a second trip to Venice in order to escape the Great Plague. This engraving was probably nearly complete; the date 1505 had already been engraved in the plate, although it was subsequently corrected to read 1508. The background is deliberately reduced in scale for sake of contrast, and any indication of a landscape is omitted. In this engraving, Dürer sought to combine the monumentality of his work The Large Horse with the elegance of another one of his works, The Small Horse. Pictured from behind, the two subjects’ unusual stance effectively conveys a feeling of pause before the saintly warrior forges ahead to defend the faith. This scene was also used in the Ober St. Veit Altarpiece, which was completed in Dürer's workshop during his absence in Italy.