Bidspirit auction | [Folk School]. Icon ”The Miracle

[Folk School]. Icon ”The Miracle of the Great Martyr George and the Dragon”. The Balkans. Late 18th – early 19th century. Wooden panel, linen cloth (pavoloka), gypsum ground (gesso/levkas), egg tempera. Recessed central panel (kovcheg), stamped ornament along the raised borders. Dimensions: 34 × 27 cm. Condition: old, even craquelure across the entire surface; minor, localised paint losses and chips along the edges of the panel; no restoration or overpainting. The icon depicts the scene of ”The Miracle of Saint George and the Dragon”, derived from the Byzantine hagiography of the saint and widely disseminated in post-Byzantine Balkan art. Against a gold ground, the warrior Saint George is shown on horseback, striking the dragon with a lance; the horse tramples the beast beneath its hooves. To the right are city walls with figures of the king's daughter and courtiers in crowns and court attire, observing the event. The Great Martyr Saint George is venerated throughout the Christian world as a heavenly warrior and vanquisher of the ”ancient serpent”, a symbol of the forces of evil. According to the ”Legend of George and the Dragon”, the saint rescues a king's daughter from a dragon dwelling in a lake near a pagan city; following the miracle, the townspeople, led by the king, embrace Christianity. This scene has become one of the most recognisable images of the triumph of good over evil. The iconography is of Byzantine origin and is interpreted here in the manner of the Balkan folk school: expressive drawing, vivid, locally applied colours, a large-scale figure of the horseman and a striking green dragon. In style and technique (pavoloka, gesso, tempera, stamped border ornament) the icon belongs to the late post-Byzantine circle of the late 18th – early 19th century.