Dalí painted an earlier version of the story of St. George and the Dragon in 1942, in which the dragon and St. George battle in the foreground of the painting. This version was painted in 1962, using oil on canvas. Unlike the 1942 version, the brushwork in the painting is quite brusque - almost as if it were rushed. Dalí often undertook work purely for monetary rewards, as his fame was such that any work with his signature on it would sell. This painting could easily have been a background to one of Dalí's portraits, such as They Were There (1931).
    St. George is dressed in a red tunic in the style of a Spanish cavalier, rather than the clothes of a medieval Englishman. The landscape also, though greener than Dalí's customary bleak deserts, is still typically Spanish in feel. This impression is aided by the appearance of the clump of buildings that can be seen in the central background. The buildings with their slopes and the color of burnt sienna have a definite Mediterranean feel to them. Dalí has not included the dragon in this painting, although the dark figure in the foreground forebodes death with its grim, almost spectral appearance.