Good Defeats Evil
Gift ID:
UNNY006G
Good Defeats Evil is a bronze sculpture by Soviet/Russian painter and sculptor Zurab Tsereteli (1934 – ) who is well-known for large structures.
Seen here is a human defeating a dragon, as in the story of Saint George and the Dragon. The tale tells of St. George slaying a dragon that demanded sacrifices from nearby villagers. Once the villagers ran out of livestock, they offered humans and when a well-loved princess was selected to be sacrificed, the saint rescues the lady. Here we have a new interpretation of the story.
An allegorical St. George, astride a rearing horse, drives his lance through a dragon. The dragon is not the mythological beast of early Christian tradition, but rather represents the vanquishing of nuclear war through the historic treaty between the Soviet Union and the United States. Created as a monument to peace, the sculpture is composed of parts of actual United States and Soviet missiles. Accordingly, the dragon is shown lying amid actual fragments of these weapons, the broken pieces of Soviet SS-20 and U.S. Pershing missiles. ?
The sculpture was unveiled on the 5th of October 1990 in a ceremony attended by U.S. Secretary of State James Baker (1930 – ), Soviet Foreign Minister, Eduard Shevardnadze (1928 – 2014), UN Secretary-General Perez de Cuellar (1920 – 2020) and the artist, Zurab Tsereteli.
The sculpture commemorates the 1987 signing of the Treaty on the Elimination of Intermediate-Range and Short-Range Nuclear Missiles (INF Treaty) and was given in celebration of the 45 Session of the General Assembly in 1990. ?
Donor Region:
Eastern European Group
Donor:
USSR
Materials:
Bronze
Medium:
Cast bronze figure with dragon formed from sections of two destroyed nuclear missiles
Donation Date:
October 5, 1990
Artist or Maker:
Zurab Tsereteli
Dimensions:
31 x 18 x 10 ft.
Saint George:
"Christian martyr of the fourth century. Although St. George's life is tinged with fabulous elements, it is known that his tomb in Lydda (Palestine) was very frequented since ancient times, and that his cult had spread through the East and West before the twelfth century. Patron of England, Russia, Portugal and Catalonia, the most represented and representative episode of the legend of St. George is his fight against the dragon to save the maiden."
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