Medal, cast bronze, George and the Dragon, by Nicola Moss (b. 1960), British, 1986

Cast bronze medal in irregular oval shape.

Commissioned by the British Art Medal Society in 1986, George and the Dragon is an early medal by sculptor Nicola Moss. This specimen was purchased in 2010 from Simmons Gallery.

In addition to working on large scale sculptures, Moss is an established medallist who has exhibited internationally, notably at the FIDEM congresses. She issued further BAMS medals in 1991 (The Man who planted Trees) and 2007 (Mamoo).

The theme of St George, familiar in Western art, was first approached by Moss in a life-size plaster of the saint, mounted on horseback. This plaster remained unfinished but Moss took up the subject on a smaller scale with this medal, and with an unusual interpretation of the legend. She explored the relationship between the sexes, a theme she touched on in earlier medals. Moss interprets the symbolism; while George is battling with the dragon (obverse), the maiden (reverse), tired of waiting, takes the matter of her rescue in her own hands. In cutting off her long hair and so casting off an overt symbol of femininity, she strengthens herself. The medal is significant in the personal and artistic life of the artist, as it illustrates emotional independence and artistic maturity.

This exceptional medal shows Moss’s distinctive style, with confident lines, refined detail and a balanced composition. The complex processes of its manufacture from an initial intaglio engraving in marble, via moulds in plaster, rubber and wax, are described by the artist in The Medal (Winter 1986, p. 77).

In this medal, British artist Nicola Moss has reworked the ancient legend of George and the Maiden. The story says that the inhabitants of Silene were forced to regularly feed a maiden to the dragon that had made its nest nearby. When it was the turn of the city’s princess to be sacrificed, George went to rescue her from this tragic fate.
In a feminist treatment of the subject, relevant to the context of the 1980s, Moss shows George absorbed in his fight with the dragon, while the maiden, tired of waiting, decides to rescue herself. No longer the sumissive woman of the traditional readings of the story, she cuts her hair to draw strength and establish her independence.

A.7-2010