We pick our favourite red and white artworks in celebration of St George's Day
Today, the 23rd April, marks the feast of St George, England’s patron saint. Born nearly 2000 years ago, the Syrian-born Christian was martyred in AD303 by the Roman emperor Diocletian after declaring himself Christian, and refusing to make sacrifices to the pagan gods. However, his prominence as a saint was cemented with the legend of the slaying of the Dragon. This story, which vitally included a rescued damsel in distress, was brought back to England with the Crusaders and with it, the saint’s popularity began to grow. The St. George's flag, a red cross on a white field, was adopted by England and the City of London in 1190 for their ships entering the Mediterranean, and in 1222, the Synod of Oxford declared St George's Day a feast day in the kingdom of England, with Edward III putting his Order of the Garter under the banner of St. George around 1348. Shakespeare’s famous invocation in Henry V – "Follow your spirit, and upon this charge; Cry 'God for Harry, England, and Saint George!'" – meant the saint’s provenance was assured.
"Follow your spirit, and upon this charge; Cry 'God for Harry, England, and Saint George!'" – Shakespeare
Yet today, the previously widely observed feast day is more of a footnote in the annual calendar, with old traditions such as wearing a red rose in the lapel long lost in the mists of time. Indeed, tragically, the saint’s famous flag is now more associated with football hooliganism and racist violence than the chivalry for which its namesake gained his fame. While AnOther cannot rehabilitate the flag entirely, here we present a selection of our favourite red and white artworks, ranging from Gilbert & George’s tinted montage Red Morning Trouble, through Rothko’s resonant White on Red and Warhol’s sickles, to Malevich’s Suprematist work Eight Red Rectangles.
