“St George and the Dragon” by John Birnie Philip and J. R. Clayton

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St George and the Dragon

Executed by John Birnie Philip (1824-1875)

This stands at the top of the Westminster School Scholars' Memorial, designed overall by George Gilbert Scott (1811-1878)

1859-61

Column: red granite on Portland Stone base, with stone statues

Westminster Walk (opposite Sanctuary House, beside Westminster Abbey)

The monument as a whole is a Grade II listed structure. Beneath St George are the canopied and seated statues of four monarchs: Edward the Confessor who founded the Abbey that he faces here; and three later royal patrons of the Abbey and school: Henry II, Elizabeth I and Queen Victoria. [Commentary continues below. Click on the images to enlarge them and mouse over the text for links.]

Photograph of St George and the Dragon kindly provided by Bob Speel. Photographs below by Dr Orhan Arol. Please see their respective websites in the bibliography for information about reusing them. Perspective correction and commentary by Jacqueline Banerjee

Left: The whole memorial in its setting. Right: The lions at the base (but above the inscriptions).

At the base are four lions. Claire Bullus and Robert Asprey ascribe all the statues to Clayton (244), and the War Memorials site, making no mention the carvings just below St George, describes the monument simply as a "[l]arge column with lantern-cross and statue of St George and the dragon, carved by J.R. Clayton. Base flanked by four lions." But Bob Speel persuasively attributes all but the top figure to the more accomplished Philip himself. Inspired by mid-fifteenth century sculpture in the Abbey's Henry VII's chapel, St George is less lissom (see Waters 46, figs. 39 and 40), indeed, rather stiff. Curiously, although his sword is raised as if to deliver the mortal blow, the dragon is already headless. However, he looks appropriately youthful, in tribute to the younger "old boys" of Westminster School who fell in the two arenas of war specified in the inscriptions: the Crimean War (1853-1856) and (as it was then known) Indian Mutiny (1857-1858).

Links to related material

Bibliography

Arol, Dr. Orhan. "Footprints and memories of Crimean War in Istanbul, Paris, London and Turin." Web. 11 January 2022.

Bullus, Claire, and Ronald Asprey. Statues of London. With Photographs by Dennis Gilbert. London & New York, Merrell, 2009. [Review].

Speel, Bob. Westminster sculpture – Westminster Abbey (the Sanctuary) to St John Smith's Square walk via Dean’s Yard. Web. 11 January 2022.

Waters, William and Alastair Carew-Cox (photographer). “John Richard Clayton within The Pre-Raphaelite Circle.” Angels & Icons. Pre-Raphaelite Stained Glass 1850-1870. Abbots Morton, Worcester: Seraphim Press Ltd., 2012. 41-54.

Westminster Scholars — Crimea and Indian Mutiny. War Memorials Online. Web. 11 January 2022.

Created 28 November 2015

Last modified 2 April 2022