Dimension drawing of the small icon: 200 mm high, 160 mm wide, 24 mm deep

Saint George and the Dragon Icon, Carved Solid Wood

Small: 200 × 160 mm / Cherry / None
£54.00
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Dimension drawing of the small icon: 200 mm high, 160 mm wide, 24 mm deep
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  • Dimension drawing of the small icon: 200 mm high, 160 mm wide, 24 mm deep
  • Carved wooden icon of Saint George on horseback spearing the dragon, with the city wall behind him
  • The icon hung on a dark grey wall above a floating shelf with a fern and a candle
  • Two hands holding the icon, showing its size against an adult's hands
  • The icon seen at an angle on a white wall, showing the depth of the carved scene
  • The icon hanging flat on a wall, with the metal hanger visible at the top
  • Side view of the icon, showing the thickness of the panel and the pale wood edge
Saint George and the Dragon Icon, Carved Solid Wood

Saint George and the Dragon Icon, Carved Solid Wood

£54.00
Please choose the language for the inscription.
Please choose whether you want a wall hanger.

Saint George on horseback, spear driven downward into the dragon, the horse rearing over it. Behind him the walls of the city and the small figure of the rescued princess in the doorway. This is the busiest of our icons — a whole scene rather than a standing figure — and the carving is cut on several planes so the horse stands clear of the background and the dragon coils below it.

Three sizes and two species. Cherry is the warmer of the two, reddish and close-grained, and it darkens noticeably over the years; ash is paler and open-pored, and the grain runs visibly through the horse and the folds of the cloak. Depth runs from 24 to 42 mm depending on size. At this level of detail the large panel is worth the difference: at 360 mm the city wall, the reins and the dragon’s scales all read separately, and at 200 mm they begin to merge.

The inscription along the lower edge can be set in the language you choose, and the back can be engraved with a dedication — a name, a date, a line of scripture. Made to order in our workshop in Romania.

This is one of two icons in the series that carry a scene rather than a portrait — the other is the Holy Trinity after Rublev — which is why the small size loses more here than elsewhere. If you want a soldier saint on a standing panel, where the small size holds up, that is the Archangel Michael with the spear and orb. In a household corner both stand to one side of Christ Pantocrator.
Product details

A relief icon of Saint George and the dragon, carved from a single panel of solid cherry or solid ash, with the fluted border cut from the same piece. Three sizes. Made to order, ready to ship in 3–5 working days.

Two things are chosen at checkout rather than by variant: the language of the inscription carved along the lower edge, and whether you want a wall hanger fitted. Both are free. If you order the back engraving, leave your text in the personalisation field — up to 200 characters.

The inscription is available in nineteen languages: Church Slavonic, Greek, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Lithuanian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish and Swedish. The photographs show the Romanian inscription.
Dimensions and specifications
  • Wood: solid cherry or solid ash, one panel per icon, no glued joints
  • Small: 200 × 160 × 24 mm (7.9″ × 6.3″ × 0.9″), about 1 kg
  • Medium: 280 × 220 × 32 mm (11″ × 8.7″ × 1.3″), about 1.5 kg
  • Large: 360 × 280 × 42 mm (14.2″ × 11″ × 1.7″), about 2.5 kg
  • Tolerance: ±1 mm
  • Frame: carved fluted border, worked from the same panel as the relief
  • Inscription: carved along the lower edge, in any of nineteen languages — chosen at checkout
  • Back engraving: optional, up to 200 characters
  • Wall hanger: fitted on request, at no extra cost — choose at checkout
  • Made to order: 3–5 working days before dispatch
  • Sold individually
Mounting

An icon can stand or hang. Ordered without the hanger, the back is left flat and the icon sits on a shelf, a chest or an icon corner, leaning slightly against the wall. Ordered with the hanger, a fitting is recessed into the back so the panel sits flush.

  1. Decide the height first: an icon is meant to be seen from below, not level with the eye. Above head height is traditional and it also suits the carving, which reads better when the light falls across it from above.
  2. Use a fixing rated for the weight of the size you ordered — 1 kg for the small, 1.5 kg for the medium, 2.5 kg for the large — and for your wall type.
  3. Leave the screw head standing 4–5 mm proud of the wall and hook the fitting over it.
  4. Check the icon against the wall rather than against the ceiling; older ceilings are rarely level and the eye follows the frame.

Do not use adhesive strips. The weight and the depth of the panel put the load in the wrong place for them. Keep the icon away from a radiator, a stove, or a wall that gets direct afternoon sun — solid wood in one piece moves with humidity, and steady conditions are what keep a panel flat.
Materials & workshop

Cherry or ash, cut from a single panel. Cherry is the warmer of the two — reddish, close-grained, and it deepens in colour over years rather than months. Ash is paler and open-pored; its grain runs straight and visibly, so it shows through the horse and the cloak and gives the relief a second pattern under the carved one. The two behave differently under the tool, which is why they are priced differently.

Carved, sanded and finished in our own workshop in Roman, Romania. The fluted border is not a separate moulding glued on: it is the original surface of the panel, left standing while the field is cut away, which is the reason the whole icon is one piece of wood and cannot come apart. This is the longest carving we make. A standing figure sits on one plane; here the horse, the rider, the dragon and the city wall each sit on their own, and the spear crosses all of them at once — a single slip on that line and the panel is finished.
Care

Dust with a dry, soft brush rather than a cloth — there are more undercuts in this panel than in any other icon we make, and a cloth catches on them and leaves fibres behind. Never use water or a household cleaner on a carved panel.

Both species darken with time and light, cherry considerably more than ash. That change is even only if the icon is lit evenly, so avoid hanging it where one half sits in direct sun.

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