Saint Margaret and the demon in dragon form in a painting with the Virgin Mary and Louis IX

An Incredibly Terrifying Dragon in a New Painting by an Unknown Artist in the National Gallery Collection.

The Virgin and Child sit enthroned, the throne adorned with a tapestry of double-headed eagles. Beside them stand Saint Louis IX of France and Saint Margaret, astride a monster.

According to tradition, the demon, having turned himself into a dragon, failed to frighten Saint Margaret, Marina of Antioch, who either ripped open his belly with a cross or battered him to death with a hammer. The beast in the painting has anthropomorphic features, which points us back to its transformation from an infernal demon into a dragon.

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Saint Margaret and the demon in dragon form in a painting with the Virgin Mary and Louis IX

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