This relief is a cast from the marble relief of Donatello’s St George and the Dragon, which was carved at the foot of the niche for his statue of St George on Orsanmichele, Florence in 1417. The marble relief is the first example in Donatello’s work of shallow relief carving and includes linear perspective. The stucco replica perhaps dates from the 16th century. The replica does not represent the full height of the marble relief and is slightly cut above the horse’s head and beneath the hooves. The areas to the right of the princess and to the left of the entrance to the cave are also omitted. The stucco is broken irregularly down the right edge and repaired on the left and was perhaps at one time complete. The frame seems to date from the mid 16th century.

Orsanmichele had a double function in the fifteenth century as a church and grain market. In 1404 the guilds of Florence were invited to decorate the niches on its exterior. Each commissioned statues of its patron saint, in bronze for the major guilds and marble for the lesser ones.