St Michael and the Dragon sculpture

Late Gothic walnut sculpture of St Michael slaying the dragon. A similar example is in The Walters museum in Baltimore, with similar armour and composition. The archangel Michael was widely honoured as a saint, in which role he is sometimes shown without his customary wings. Wearing the armour of a 15th-century knight, he is represented as defender of the Church against the devil, here symbolised by the dragon. Saint George is also depicted as a knight slaying a dragon, but only Michael wears a diadem (a jewelled crown or headband worn as a symbol of sovereignty).