Vittore Carpaccio
St. George Killing the Dragon

Mouse:

Huh! Now, I've just got away from one hideous beast – Cat: Meow! – to find the next monster already lying in wait. A real, dangerous, mean, ugly, nasty, wicked dragon! Oh dear, oh dear, oh dearie me!

Cat:

Don't be scared, Mousey. I come in peace! It was just a joke.

Mouse:

Oh, the gallery cat! Don't get your claws out! The talons on that hideous dragon are more than enough for me. Can you see how many people he's attacked and devoured? There are bones, skulls, entire feet and even half a human body lying on the ground. Phew! What a disgusting smell!

The stench of death!

Cat:

Fortunately, we have George, the noble knight, who is willing and able to do battle with the dragon. The princess, who was next in line to be sacrificed to the beast, also hopes it will end well for the knight – look there, in the background on the right, where she's cowering next to a tree.

Mouse:

Ooh! That would be much too exciting for me!

Cat:

Well, it'll be over soon. The knight has already stabbed his lance into the dragon's neck.

There he comes, charging along on his horse, standing up in the saddle, leaning forward... now, he's staring the dragon straight in the eye and then – wham – he's vanquished it with a single thrust! The beast has been conquered, and so has evil.

Mouse: 

But look over here...here on the opposite wall ….

Cat:

My goodness! What am I looking at? The same valiant knight, the same horse, the same dragon... all just the same as in the painting, but no brush, no canvas, no paint in sight, and instead...

Mouse:

Did someone have free entry to Legoland?

Cat:

Legoland... the impudence! This is high art! Except that it's from the present day, and not from the past. An ingenious interpretation of the old master painting using contemporary means, you might say.

Mouse:

Huh? Using contemporary means? Using Lego bricks! The picture looks all pixelated. What kind of a graphics card has he got?

Cat:

Now, now, now. The coarse-grained – or, as you would say, ‘pixelated’ – appearance is probably a deliberate stylistic device used by the contemporary artist Ai Weiwei. 

Mouse:

You mean the pixels are intentional?!

Cat:

The Lego bricks are intentional. They show that the valiant knight's battle against the evil dragon is still going on, even in our digital world. Good versus evil, a battle that has yet to be decided!

Mouse:

Look who's talking!