Rider on Red

The lance-bearing rider has appeared on Moscow's coat of arms since the fifteenth century. The red ground is built up in layers, with a sgraffito drawing and gold leaf on the halo worked over it.

One subject lived through dozens of ways: rider, spear, serpent — each time in a different matter, from red ground to blue tile. A series about an image that survives any reworking and stays recognisable from across the room.

Saint George on a white horse, lance lowered, background dense red.