Byam Shaw was a prolific illustrator who often chose literary legends for his subjects. The present work was painted in 1908 for Frank Sidgwick's Legendary Ballads (London: Chatto & Windus, 1908, facing p. 6), where it accompanied the chapter 'St George and the Dragon', and illustrated the line 'In at his Mouth He Thrust Along'.

For another illustration in the same series, see the following lot