St. George (painting by Mantegna)

The painting depicts St. George , who looks distantly into the distance, personifying most likely the ideal of a victorious hero than a Christian saint. The image of a knight, whose shiny armor is made according to the sketch of Jacopo Bellini , the artist’s father-in-law, placed in a marble frame, covers the stage according to a simple but strict perspective construction, and limits the ghostly space; a garland of flowers and fruits from above - a decoration in the Paduan style - becomes a part of the frame, creating the illusion of reality. The real space seems to continue in the picturesque, which creates the impression of continuity: the visual illusion is emphasized by the head of the dragon and the right hand of St. George with a spear that goes beyond the bounds of an imaginary marble frieze . Mantegna intended to draw the viewer into the composition; in this sense, the distribution of light, pure, not yellow, like that of other artists, crystal, helps to create a stronger bond between the two dimensions.

The city depicted in the background is identified with Selenium, where, according to the "Golden Legend" , St. George killed the dragon. The staging of the head of St. George and the direction of his gaze is the basis to believe that the earlier picture was one of the parts of the now lost polyptych.

• “Gallery of the Academy. Venice". Edited by Lucia Impelluso. = Gallerie Dell'accademia: Venezia. - / Per. with it. - M .: ZAO “BMM”, 2006. - P. 19. - 144 p. - (Great museums of the world). - 3000 copies. - ISBN 5-88353-246-2 .
• N. Netashvili, L. Chechik. VOLUME 14. // “Gallery of the Academy. Venezіya ". - K .: PrAT Komsomolska Pravda - Ukraine, 2012. - P. 11. - 96 p. - ("The Great Museum of Light"). - 7000 copies. - ISBN 978-966-2492-95-8 .