Initial R from Moralia in Job

It is often thought that it is St. George who is depicted in the Initial R from the Moralia in Job. St. George is known for being an early Christian Martyr, and also for the tale of his fight with the dragon. Serving Diocletian in the army, he complained, putting his position at risk, when Diocletian began the persecutions of the Christians. He publicly declared himself by tearing down Diocletian's edict against the Christians. The end result was his beheading near Lydda in 303. His actions were so powerful that Diocletian's wife, Alexandria, converted after Saint George's death, resulting in her own death. The fame of Saint George as a defender of Christianity was imposed on the Greek legendary story of the Virgin Andromeda and Perseus and retold as Saint George and the Dragon. The story is told as a dragon pillaged a pagan town in Libya, the people threw sheep at it to placate it. The dragon still unsatisfied resulted in the town giving up citizens. …