The Killing Jar

Saint George Killing the Dragon - Bernat Martorell, 1434/35

Tempera on panel

61 1/4 x 38 5/8 in. (155.6 x 98.1 cm)

Art Institute of Chicago

In the second quarter of the 15th century, Bernat Martorell was the leading painter of Barcelona, the capital of Catalonia in northeastern Spain. Saint George was the patron saint of Catalonia, and Martorell’s vivid painting probably once formed the center of the altarpiece of the chapel of the Catalan government in its palace in Barcelona. The central image would have been flanked by smaller narrative panels, now in the Musée du Louvre, Paris; they illustrate the martyrdom of the saint in gruesome detail.

ca. 1870-90s,  [tintype portrait of a travelling salesman with tinted glasses and a suitcase full of wares]