Sylvester's Dragon
As a source of authority on animals in medieval culture, Bestiaries labelled dragons as the sign of the devil, a physical manifestation of evil (7). Rather than having merit for themselves, dragons were used in comparison with other animals, such as a stag or panther, in order to contrast inherent good with evil. Similarly, their function in the legends of Saints serves to provide a symbolic figure of evil and the devil that a Saint ultimately defeats to defend the christian faith (6). With this interpretation, it is impossible to escape the idea that the dragon was a powerful figure, both in its prowess as a fire-breathing monster but also in the evil it denoted, in its association with the devil. The painting by Agnolo Gaddi however shows another image of the dragon. Here (figure 2) the dragon remains very calm in its composure: there is no fire from its mouth, there is no malice in his eyes, no fangs or spikes on its wings or back. Its eyes are looking up at Saint Sylvester as if entranced, while his mouth is bound in the saint’s hands easily, as if it was already a tame creature. From the legend one knows that this dragon was a menace, terrorizing people with its noxious fire breath, thus its tame position here in the painting emphasizes the power of Saint Sylvester invested in him by god, giving him the ability to defeat a fearsome beast like this. The appearance of Constantine on the far right (figure 3) is an intriguing, yet not surprising link to make. While Constantine has no direct role in the story his appearance in the painting connects his conversion with Saint Sylvester, emphasizing the victory of the church in both the all realms of medieval society. With this in mind, one can additionally read the dragon as a representation of pagan religions and society being conquered with the legalization of christianity (5). Regardless, the calm nature of the dragon in the painting served to emphasize the victory of Saint Sylvester over the devil rather than the ferocity and evilness of the dragon in order to show the power of the god and the church.