St George, the Dragon and Cancer

St George, the Dragon and Cancer large

On one page, Robert has drawn a careful copy of Raphael’s St. George and the Dragon. The knight, horse and landscape are drawn without shading, while the dragon and cave have been darkened with cross-hatching and areas of black to create a striking contrast between hero and monster. On the page on the right, Robert writes out his elaborate idea: “a painting about cancer using the metaphor of St. George and the dragon for the action of chemotherapy in the body. The image floats above the sick man’s head, suggesting the interior struggle. To indicate the futility of this struggle (in many cases) Don Quixote is substituted for St. George.” Robert uses “this medieval imagery” because “with chemotherapy we are in the dark ages of cancer treatment, yet like the medieval damsel, this is the only knight available to save us.” Robert never pursued this idea further. It was his first attempt to make an artwork based on his cancer experience. He will later include patients’ fantasies and images that comment on religion and technology in his series, along with a more factual, documentary approach to the cancer experience.

St George, the Dragon and Cancer
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