Tristan was a knight of the Round Table, who fell in love with Isolde, the future wife of his uncle, after they had both mistakenly taken a love potion. The tale is a tragic one with Tristan dying of despair and Isolde subsequently committing suicide. Wagner wrote an opera on Tristan and Isolde, which Dalí greatly admired. In 1944, he worked on the costumes, sets and scripts for three Surrealist ballets - one of which was Mad Tristan, based upon the tale of Tristan and Isolde. This drawing was completed in 1941 so pre-dates Dalí's ballet, but shows that the interest in Tristan and Isolde had been in his mind for some time.
    This painting shares the same structure as the Composition of the Leg (1944). Both works are based on a flat landscape with segmenting lines drawn to a central point in the background to help give the illusion of distance. These lines separate the picture into sections that are filled with various forms that surround the one central image, which Tristan and Isolde is the cypress tree. The cypress tree has a foreboding, black hole in the center into which a stepladder made from human bones leads.

   Raised on its pedestal, this face becomes a fantastic effigy. The rusher of bacon is a reference to culinary tastes in the United States, where Dalí's work enjoyed great success during those years.

    This painting is dedicated to the Marquis de Cuevas, who was a patron of Dalí's for many years. The marquis was married to a Rockerfeller millionairess, so had plenty of available funds to back Dalí's projects. Saint George and the Dragon is painted in oil on ivory. This rather expensive form of canvas could be the reason for the diminutive size of the work, measuring only 3" x 4" (7.5 x 10 cm).
    The frame is made from gold encrusted with seed pearls, and the corners are decorated with baguette-cut diamonds. Dalí regularly used precious jewels and metals in his work. He also liked to find unusual frames for his paintings, such as the gilt frame of Messenger in a Palladian Landscape.
    A naked St. Georges is gripping on to the haunches of his horse while he is thrusting his lance into the open mouth of the dragon. The horse is lying on top of the dragon so that only the head of the beast can be seen. Around the horses neck is the dragon's tail, its claws digging into the side of the horse. The horse looks fierce, taking on some of the dragon's features as it grimaces in pain.