BASILICA OF SANTA ANASTASIA, Pisanello

The fresco by Pisanello in the Basilica of Sant’Anastasia is the most important painting in Verona, together with the altarpiece by Mantegna in the Basilica of San Zeno.

Born in Verona around 1395, famous as a painter and a portrait medalist, Pisanello’s work is a fascinating combination of Late Gothic creativity and humanist rigor.

Unfortunately, many of his paintings have been destroyed; hence the particular importance of Saint George and the Princess on the arch of the Pellegrini Chapel.

Much of the left part of the painting, with the dragon lying in wait, has also been destroyed by water seepage; nonetheless, the fresco is considered one of the finest masterpieces of fifteenth-century painting in Italy.

The wealth of elaborate descriptive details in the work offer an encyclopedic overview of Late Gothic culture: exotic characters, animals, sophisticated garments, rocks, fairytale-like buildings, hanged men swaying from the gallows. A mysterious sense of tension lingers around the painting: like pieces on the chessboard, bishops, knights, rooks and queens stand motionless and trembling, awaiting the move that will seal their fate.

Unlike many other painters, Pisanello did not choose to portray the moment of victory, when Saint George heroically slays the dragon with his lance and frees the beautiful princess.

The menacing dragon is lying there in wait, surrounded by an arid landscape scattered with death: Saint George has just placed his foot in the stirrup and his hand on the saddle of his large horse, and is about to mount. The other horsemen in the group are distracted, far off; the horses are chomping at the bit, the dogs are on edge because they can sense the danger; there is no-one to be seen in the marvelous city in the background, and no-one will be able to come to his aid.

An interesting fact: there are numerous splendid preparatory designs for the work, especially for the face of the knight, depicted with oriental features and clothing (perhaps even from Mongolia), and for the macabre detail of the two men hanging from the gallows, certainly copied from a real scene.