St George

Base: 28 × 8 × 2

Pagramantis, Tauragė district.

From a shrine which also contained the sculptures of Our Lady of the Gates of Dawn and St Anthony.

St George is one of the most popular saints in Lithuania, and images of him are common in folk sculpture. He was a Christian soldier and martyr, who was born into a noble Christian family in Cappadocia. He rose to a high rank in the Roman army, and was martyred in 303 for encouraging Christianity. Depictions of him are based on the story that on his way across Libya, he learned about a dragon that demanded that the citizens of Silene give it their sons and daughters to devour. When a princess was being taken to the dragon, George arrived on horseback and slew it. This image of St George was also popular in folk art. In this sculptural composition, the religious carver Juozapas Stankus (1840–1922) depicted St George as a Roman soldier on a grey horse thrusting his lance into the dragon’s mouth. The figure of a praying princess is placed on a high postament next to the sculpture of St George.

The story about the slaying of the dragon is well known in many European and Asian countries, and signifies the victory of good over evil, which in Christianity became a symbol of its victory over paganism. But many nations in Europe, including the Lithuanians, celebrate the feast of St George (April 23) as the revival of nature in spring, and a date in the stockbreeding calendar, so St George is considered to be the patron of livestock, especially horses, and of farmers (due to the Greek meaning of his name Georgios, ‘a farmer’). In Lithuania, St George was also honoured as a patron of crops: people walked around their fields on St George’s Day, in order to ensure a good harvest. Furthermore, St George, together with St Casimir, was venerated as a patron saint of Lithuania.

Text author Skaidrė Urbonienė

Source: Law firm Valiunas Ellex art album HEAVEN AND BEYOND (2016). Compiler Dalia Vasiliūnienė. Text authors Dalia Vasiliūnienė, Skaidrė Urbonienė

Base: 28 × 8 × 2

Pagramantis, Tauragė district.

From a shrine which also contained the sculptures of Our Lady of the Gates of Dawn and St Anthony.

St George is one of the most popular saints in Lithuania, and images of him are common in folk sculpture. He was a Christian soldier and martyr, who was born into a noble Christian family in Cappadocia. He rose to a high rank in the Roman army, and was martyred in 303 for encouraging Christianity. Depictions of him are based on the story that on his way across Libya, he learned about a dragon that demanded that the citizens of Silene give it their sons and daughters to devour. When a princess was being taken to the dragon, George arrived on horseback and slew it. This image of St George was also popular in folk art. In this sculptural composition, the religious carver Juozapas Stankus (1840–1922) depicted St George as a Roman soldier on a grey horse thrusting his lance into the dragon’s mouth. The figure of a praying princess is placed on a high postament next to the sculpture of St George.

The story about the slaying of the dragon is well known in many European and Asian countries, and signifies the victory of good over evil, which in Christianity became a symbol of its victory over paganism. But many nations in Europe, including the Lithuanians, celebrate the feast of St George (April 23) as the revival of nature in spring, and a date in the stockbreeding calendar, so St George is considered to be the patron of livestock, especially horses, and of farmers (due to the Greek meaning of his name Georgios, ‘a farmer’). In Lithuania, St George was also honoured as a patron of crops: people walked around their fields on St George’s Day, in order to ensure a good harvest. Furthermore, St George, together with St Casimir, was venerated as a patron saint of Lithuania.

Text author Skaidrė Urbonienė

Source: Law firm Valiunas Ellex art album HEAVEN AND BEYOND (2016). Compiler Dalia Vasiliūnienė. Text authors Dalia Vasiliūnienė, Skaidrė Urbonienė