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Lizzie’s last pose:
St. George and the Princess Sabra by Dante Gabriel Rossetti was the last painting in which Elizabeth Siddal modeled. I’ve written about this painting in this post at Pre-Raphaelite Sisterhood, and I will share a portion of that post here:
The story of St. George was not a new subject for Rossetti. He designed a set of stained glass windows to be created by the Morris firm. Previously, in 1857, he had painted The Wedding of St. George:
Here we can see the triumphant St. George embracing Princess Sabra, both of them seemingly oblivious to the dead dragon. I can tell you that if I were Princess Sabra, I would not be capable of such stoicism! I am of the opinion that dead dragons are probably quite smelly.
The story of St. George was a legend handed down from the Crusaders and was printed in 1483 by Caxton in a book called The Golden Legend. St. George happened upon a town with a horrible dragon. The townspeople had been feeding the dragon sheep in order to keep it at bay. In another version of the myth, they fed the dragon their children who were chosen according to a lottery. They also gave the dragon young virgins.
But, if you ask me, I would assume that all young women would taste the same to the dragon whether they were virginal or not.
St. George attacks and slays the dragon, saving the city. He is rewarded with Princess Sabra’s hand in marriage.
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