ABSTRACT
Paolo Veronese's initial idea in the preparatory drawing, now in the Getty Museum, differed, most notably in its treatment of St George. He is first shown at bottom left, bound in preparation for his martyrdom, in a grouping derived from Titian's Death of St Peter Martyr. Veronese continued the sequence to the right, ending with St George kneeling, with his hands tied behind his back and surrounded by a group which included the executioner, whose long sword was drawn over an earlier kneeling version of the saint. Veronese had explored the theme in two drawings, one of which is on the back of a letter dated 4 February 1588, ten weeks before his death on 19 April 1588. A further drawing establishes beyond doubt the connection between these late sheets and the Baptism from San Giovanni in Malta. Veronese continued to link religious narratives in the small oratory of San Nicolo ai Frari, extensively redecorated in 1582.
