# The Miracle of the Dragon [View the canonical artwork record]() ## Artwork - Artist: [MASO DI BANCO]() - Date: 1301-1350 - Technique: Fresco, width 534 cm ## Commentary The Miracle of the Dragon c. 1335 Fresco, width 534 cm Cappella di Bardi di Vernio, Santa Croce, Florence The scene at the bottom of the south wall shows the Miracle of the Dragon. Of the scenes in the chapel, this is the most often discussed. Two men were killed at the Roman Forum by the breath of a dragon, here read as the symbol of religious ignorance. Sylvester closed the dragon's throat so it would cause no further harm and he then revived the victims, much to the amazement of onlookers. In the fresco, the Roman Forum is rendered not as it looked in the fourth century when the scene occurred, but in its ruinous state of the 14th century when Maso painted it. The unoccupied buildings in the background, the dilapidated, cracked walls in which grass is growing and the marble rubble in front of the dragon's cave give visual expression to the decline of the ancient world. The fragment of a pier arcade and the one standing column nevertheless serve to remind us of the greatness and beauty of its architecture. ## Related artworks - [Coronation of the Virgin \(fragment\)]() - [Descent of Mary's Girdle to the Apostle Thomas]() - [Emperor Constantine Refuses to Bathe in the Blood of the Innocents]() - [Entombment]() - [Frescoes on the south wall]() - [Madonna and Child]() - [Pope Sylvester Baptizes Emperor Constantine]() - [Relief on the north side of the Campanile: 1. Baptism \(upper register\)]() - [Relief on the north side of the Campanile: 2. Confession \(upper register\)]() - [Relief on the north side of the Campanile: 3. Matrimony \(upper register\)]() - [Relief on the north side of the Campanile: 5. Confirmation \(upper register\)]() - [Relief on the north side of the Campanile: 5. Extreme Unction \(upper register\)]() ## Attribution [Web Gallery of Art]()