Up for sale is an absolutely phenomenal and rare old master steel engraving by Nicolas de Larmessin after Raphael’s famous “St. George and the Dragon” painted in 1504 and currently held in the Louvre. This engraving dates to 1680 and is a faithful representation of Raphael’s work which is a much stronger composition than many other prints depicting the same event. Depicting in a highly theatrical fashion St. George is front and center about to land the deadly blow that will render the dragon lifeless. The image shows us that the battle has be hard fought with the broken lance present under the horse in three pieces. The helpless damsel is present located in the top right corner safely on the shelf of a boulder looking at the ensuing battle. The all white horse is strong and finely depicted as it rears on its back legs as the dragon is simultaneously on its hindquarters. The dragon is so finely depicted along with the rest of the print that the attention to detail in the entire engraving truly is breath taking. Not a single portion of this image was overlooked as each corner not only draws in its viewer but retains them until they have worked their way through the entire scene.

The titled along the bottom written in French reads “After the painting of Raphael, which is in the cabinet of the King, painted on wood, of the same size as the print by Nicolas de Larmessin”. The print shows condition issues of toning, discoloration, foxing, water stain low left, creases top left corner and crease that runs up center of print with surface damage present on George’s foot. The images provided accurately represent the quality, condition and aesthetic beauty of this fine print but if you have any questions please feel free to ask prior to purchasing!