St George; Terracotta painted Spanish Pedro Millan 1487-1515

Painted terracotta statuette depicting St. George (previously known as St. Michael).

The youthful saint is shown wearing armour under a cloak held by an elaborate clasp, trampling a dragon-like creature underfoot. The armour is probably Milanese, dating from about 1480. His shoulder-length hair is held by a band adorned with a fillet, decorated with a rosette similar to the clasp holding his cloak. He leans towards his right, and originally held a lance in his right hand, which entered the dragon at his feet, and with which he appeared to support himself; this is now missing, and has been since the figure was first published in 1884. On the shield, a cross standing on a crown of thorns surrounded by a vine is depicted in relief, imagery evoking the Passion of Christ. Previously described as St. Michael, the iconography suggests the more likely identification is St. George, primarily because the saint is without wings. Both St. George and the Archangel Michael may be shown as young warrior-saints overcoming a dragon; sometimes the former is shown on horseback, or with the princess, and sometimes the latter is holding scales. Either one may be depicted (as here) standing unaccompanied, defeating the dragon with a lance. However, only exceptionally is Michael shown wingless. It has previously been argued that Pedro Millán portrays angels without wings, for example in his figure-group of Christ as Man of Sorrows supported by angels. This does not seem a sufficiently strong reason for calling this figure St. Michael. Neither is there any known early reference to the piece as St. Michael (it was first claimed as such only in 1884 by Gestoso, without any discussion), and for the reasons outlined above, it seems more likely that it represents St. George.

Above taken from:

Trusted, Marjorie. Spanish Sculpture: catalogue of the post-medieval Spanish sculpture in wood, terractotta, alabaster, marble, stone, lead and jet in the Victoria & Albert Museum.( London : Victoria and Albert Museum, 1996), pp. 84-86

Presented by Art Fund

Provenance: Said to come from the Dominican Convent of S. Florentina at (Seville) (see Hernández Díaz 1951, loc.cit. in bibliography for this entry); Don José de Irueta Goyena Collection, 1884-before 1923; 'Private Collection, Seville' (so described in von Loga 1923, loc.cit. in bibliography for this entry) (perhaps Irueta Goyena Collection) 1923-before 1927; whereabouts unknown 1927-1943 (Pijoan, loc.cit in bibliography for this entry (1927) says it 'has now been carried off to a foreign land'; Rafols, loc.cit in the bibliography for this entry (1942) described it as forming part of a North American collection); sold by P. Pelosi at Sotheby's, London, 16th April, 1943, lot 98; bought by Dr. H. Burg (£60); bought from Dr. Burg by the National Art-Collections Fund 1943 (£400) and presented by the Fund to the Victoria & Albert Museum in 1943.

Above taken from: Trusted, Marjorie. Spanish Sculpture: catalogue of the post-medieval Spanish sculpture in wood, terractotta, alabaster, marble, stone, lead and jet in the Victoria & Albert Museum.( London : Victoria and Albert Museum, 1996), pp. 84-86

Historical significance: Pedro Millán was one of the leading sculptors working in Seville around 1500, and the last exponent of the Spanish version of the late Gothic style inspired by Netherlandish sculpture. He was active in Seville from 1487 (when a document refers to his wife’s purchase of a house) to 1515, and was almost certainly native to the city. He appears to have specialised in terracotta, a material particularly favoured for sculpture in Seville, iexecuting parts of two of the portals of Seville Cathedral. This signed figure, from the convent of Santa Florentina de Ecija near Seville, is considered one of his finest surviving works, and is the only known work by Millán outside Spain.

The work is signed in gothic lettering: 'põ millã' on the lower part of the shield. The same signature appears on other works by Pedro Millán: on the girdles of two seated monks near the jambs of the West Door of Seville Cathedral, and on the Virgin of the Pillar also in Seville Cathedral. Stylistically, the closest piece to the present one is the Christ as Man of Sorrows supported by angels (referred to above) in the Museum of Fine Arts in Seville. This is also signed, though in a slightly different form: 'Põ Millán, ymaginero'. Both the figure of Christ and that of St. George appear to lean back to their right, while the features, hair and headdress of St. George strongly recall those of the two angels supporting the Christ figure. Although Gestoso dated the present figure to c.1480-86, Pérez-Embid rightly stated that adequate reasons were nor given for this. None of Millán's works is securely dated, and the present piece can only be put within his period of known activity (1487-1515).

Above taken from: Trusted, Marjorie. Spanish Sculpture: catalogue of the post-medieval Spanish sculpture in wood, terractotta, alabaster, marble, stone, lead and jet in the Victoria & Albert Museum.( London : Victoria and Albert Museum, 1996), pp. 84-86

This figure of St George was made in Seville, Spain, in the late fifteenth century or early sixteenth. The knightly, chivalric aspects of the figure typify the Gothic style in Spain, as does the richly decorated shield held by the saint. It was probably originally in the Dominican convent of Sta Florentina in Ecija (Seville).

A.6-1943