Introduction
In 1984, Andy Warhol turned his focus away from his ubiquitous silkscreens of everyday, commercial objects and portraits of Hollywood’s elite to focus his attention on the history of art itself through his series Details of Renaissance Paintings. In doing so, not only did Warhol pay homage to the Renaissance masters, but he also placed himself as inheritor and predecessor of their revered lineage by incorporating excerpts of their acclaimed works and thus dramatically expanding the scope of his oeuvre.
“We were thinking of important Renaissance paintings or details of such…. Ultimately, we suggested four subjects to Andy. He looked at them and without listening to our wordy explanations simply asked ‘can’t you find more famous paintings?’”
—Jörg Schellmann
Details of Renaissance Paintings renders masterworks of Italian Renaissance artists like Paolo Uccello, Leonardo da Vinci, and Sandro Botticelli in the twentieth-century medium of screen printing. This particular image retains the Quattrocento master’s palette of peachy flesh and a blue background but cools off the tones. After Warhol saw Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa in 1963, Warhol began his first experimentation with Renaissance masters. Two decades later, he returned to the subject with the eyes of a mature artist, making bolder compositional choices with cropping and overdrawing. In reproducing and reinventing these masterpieces, Warhol placed himself in the canon of greats.
Jörg Schellmann and Andy Warhol, Warhol Studio at Broadway/Union Square, New York, 1983. Image: © Schellmann Art
In 1983, the renowned German publisher Jörg Schellmann, together with his business partner Bernd Klüser, suggested to Warhol that he make a portfolio of prints based on Renaissance masterworks. After carefully considering which paintings would be most fitting, Schellmann and Klüser settled on Sandro Botticelli’s Birth of Venus (c. 1485), Leonardo da Vinci’s The Annunciation (1472), Paolo Uccello’s St. George and the Dragon (1472), and Piero della Francesca’s Madonna del Duca da Montedeltro (c.1474). Despite being created five centuries prior, these mighty paintings were pertinent subjects for Warhol due to their status as revered icons of art history. Warhol’s enduring fascination with mass reproduction, iconic imagery, and the allure of celebrity reverberated powerfully within these masterpieces. In transforming them into twentieth-century icons, Warhol amplified their historical significance as they tookcentre stage in his own Pop renaissance.
In St. George and the Dragon (After Paolo Uccello), Warhol appropriates Paolo Uccello’s painting Saint George and the Dragon using vibrant colors. By cropping and distorting the original scale and color palette of Uccello’s original painting, Warhol shockingly transforms the iconic Renaissance painting from the canon of Art History into a remarkable Pop spin-off. Just as Warhol’s earlier silkscreen works from the 1960s radically exalted the commodification of American consumer brands and products, the composition of St. George and the Dragon (After Paolo Uccello) similarly examines and subverts the ways in which we consume artistic masterpieces.
PAUL UCCELLO, SAINT GEORGE AND THE DRAGON, C. 1470. THE NATIONAL GALLERY, LONDON.
The story of Saint George and the Dragon belongs to a popular collection of saint’s lives written by Jacopo de Vorgine in the 13th century, titled The Golden Legend. The original masterpiece by Uccello features two episodes from the story of Saint George: his defeat of the plague-bearing dragon that had been terrorizing the city, and the rescued princess bringing the dragon to heel using the belt from her dress as a leash. Warhol crops Uccello’s mythical scene down to the princess’s simple yet stoic profile and the dragon’s all-encompassing spotted wing at a drastically enlarged scale, essentially elevating a fraction of this art historical masterpiece into a Pop art model. The subtle and darker palette of Uccello’s original painting is replaced by a cacophony of striking fluorescent colors and asymmetrical linework which delightfully guide the eye and disguise the origins of the source image.
Paolo Uccello, St. George and the Dragon, 1460
Paolo Uccello, St. George and the Dragon, 1460
from Details of Renaissance Paintings
Portfolio of 4 screenprints on Arches Aquarelle
Medium: Screenprint in colors on Arches Aquarelle (Cold Pressed) paper
Year: 1984
Sheet: 32×44 inches (81.3 x 111.8 cm)
Edition: 50
Artist’s Proofs: 12 AP
Printer’s Proofs: 5 PP
Hors Commerce: 4 HC
Trial Proofs: 36 TP with unique color combination
Printer: Rupert Jasen Smith, New York
Publisher: Editions Schellmann & Kluser, Munich, Germany/New-York
Literature: Feldman & Schellmann II.324-327
Signed and numbered in pencil lower left
1. St. George and the Dragon (F&S II.324)
2. St. George and the Dragon (F&S II.325)
3. St. George and the Dragon (F&S II.326)
4. St. George and the Dragon (F&S II.327)
2025 Auction Results
#1. Paolo Uccello (F&S II.324-327), 1984
Ketterer Kunst: 7 June 2025
Estimated: EUR 70,000
EUR 88,900 / USD 100,455
COMPLETE SET
ANDY WARHOL
Details of Renaissance Paintings (Paolo Uccello, St. George and the Dragon, 1460), 1984
(Feldman, Schellmann, Defendi, no. II.324-327)
Serie of 4 Silkscreen in colors on firm Arches wove board
Each signed and numbered
One of 4 numbered “HC” copies aside from the edition of 50
#2. Paolo Uccello (F&S II.326), 1984
Bonhams London: 9 December 2025
Estimated: GBP 15,000 – 20,000
GBP 20,480 / USD 27,115
ANDY WARHOL (American, 1928-1987)
Details of Renaissance Paintings (Paolo Uccello, St. George and the Dragon, 1460), 1984
(Feldman & Schellmann II.326)
Screenprint in colors on Arches Aquarelle (cold pressed) wove paper
Signed and numbered 31/50 in pencil (there were also 12 numbered artist’s proofs)
Printed by Rupert Jasen Smith, New York
Published by Editions Schellmann & Klüser, Munich/New York
With their and the artist’s red ink stamp verso
#3. Paolo Uccello (F&S II.324), 1984
Finarte Milan: 2 July 2025
Estimated: EUR 10,000 – 15,000
EUR 18,420 / USD 21,715
ANDY WARHOL (Pittsburgh 1928 – New York 1987)
Details of Renaissance paintings (Paolo Uccello, St. George and the dragon), 1984
(F. Feldman, J. Schellmann, n. II.324)
Screenprint in colors
Numbered 45/50
Signed in pencil lower left
Editions Schelmann & Kluser, New York-Munich (stamp on the reverse)
2024 Auction Results
#1. Paolo Uccello (F&S II.324-327), 1984
Stockholms Auktionsverk: 19 November 2024
Estimated: SEK 1,300,000 – 1,500,000
SEK 1,350,000 (Hammer)
SEK 1,687,500 / USD 154,375
COMPLETE SET
ANDY WARHOL
“Details of Renaissance Paintings (Paolo Uccello, St. George and the Dragon, 1460)”, 1984
The complete portfolio with four silkscreens in color on Arches Cold Pressed paper
Each signed in pencil and numbered 49/50
Published by Editions Shellmann & Klüser, Munich/New York
#2. Paolo Uccello (TP 16/36), 1984
Phillips London: 17 January 2024
Estimated: GBP 15,000 – 20,000
GBP 40,640 / USD 51,332
TRIAL PROOF
ANDY WARHOL
Details of Renaissance Paintings (Paolo Uccello, St. George and the Dragon, 1460), 1984
Unique screenprint in colors on Arches Aquarelle paper
Signed and numbered ‘TP 16/36’ in pencil
A unique color variant trial proof, the edition was 50 and 12 artist’s proofs
#3. Paolo Uccello (F&S II.326), 1984
Bonhams London: 1 May 2024
Estimated: GBP 15,000 – 20,000
GBP 20,480 / USD 26,000
Screenprint in colors on Arches Aquarelle (Cold pressed) paper
Signed and numbered 34/50 in pencil (there were also 12 numbered artist’s proofs)
#4. Paolo Uccello (F&S II.326), 1984
Artnet Auctions: 19 December 2024
Estimated: USD 18,000 – 25,000
USD 21,250
ANDY WARHOL
Details of Renaissance Paintings (Paolo Uccello, St. George and the Dragon, 1460), 1984
(II.326, Feldman & Schellmann)
Screenprint in colors on Arches Aquarelle paper
Signed and numbered 19/50 in pencil
2023 Auction Results
#1. Paolo Uccello (TP 9/36), 1984
Dorotheum Vienna: 25 May 2023
Estimated: EUR 12,000 – 16,000
EUR 26,000 / USD 29,000
TRIAL PROOF
Screenprint in colors on wove paper
Signed and numbered TP 9/36
A Trial Proof with unique color combination
#2. Paolo Uccello (F&S II.326), 1984
K Auction Seoul: 31 May 2023
Estimated: KRW 12,000,000 – 40,000,000
KRW 24,150,000 / USD 18,306
ANDY WARHOL
Details of Renaissance Paintings (Paolo Uccello, St. George and the Dragon, 1460), 1984
Screen-print in colors on Arches Aquarelle
Signed and numbered to lower left ‘AP 11/12’
An artist’s proof aside from the edition of 50
2022 Auction Results
#1. Paolo Uccello (F&S II.324-327), 1984
Sotheby’s New-York: 27 October 2022
Estimated: USD 60,000 – 80,000
USD 138,600
COMPLETE SET
ANDY WARHOL
Details of Renaissance Paintings (Paolo Uccello, St. George and the Dragon, 1460), 1984
The complete set of four screen-prints in colors
An artist’s proof set aside from the numbered edition of 60
Each signed in pencil and inscribed AP 10/12
#2. Paolo Uccello (F&S II.327), 1984
LA Modern: 8 September 2022
Estimated: USD 10,000 – 15,000
USD 22,500
ANDY WARHOL
Details of Renaissance Paintings (Paolo Uccello, St. George and the Dragon, 1460), 1984
Screen-print in colors on Arches Aquarelle
Signed and numbered to lower left ‘43/50 Andy Warhol’
2021 Auction Results
#1. Paolo Uccello (F&S II.324-327), 1984
Uppsala Auktions: 20 May 2021
Estimated: SEK 300,000 – 400,000
SEK 780,000 (Hammer)
SEK 975,000 / USD 93,495
ANDY WARHOL (USA 1928‑1987)
”Details of Renaissance Paintings: Paolo Uccello, St. George and the Dragon, 1460” (Feldman & Schellman II:324‑327), 1984
The complete suite of four color screenprints
Signed and numbered Andy Warhol 49/50
#2. Paolo Uccello (F&S II.326), 1984
Estimated: GBP 7,000 – 10,000
GBP 22,500 / USD 31,015
Details of Renaissance Paintings; Paolo Uccello, St. George and the Dragon, 1460, 1984
Screenprint in colors on Arches Aquarelle paper
Signed in pencil, numbered 15/50 (there were also 12 artist’s proofs)
#3. Paolo Uccello (F&S II.325), 1984
Bonhams New-York: 2 November 2021
Estimated: USD 15,000 – 20,000
USD 25,312
Screen-print in colors on Arches Aquarelle (Cold pressed) paper
A color proof aside from the edition of 50 (there were also 12 artist’s proofs)
#4. Paolo Uccello (F&S II.326), 1984
Uppsala Auktions: 20 May 2021
Estimated: SEK 70,000 – 80,000
SEK 140,000 (Hammer)
SEK 175,000 / USD 21,070
ANDY WARHOL (USA 1928‑1987)
”Details of Renaissance Paintings: Paolo Uccello, St. George and the Dragon, 1460”, 1984
(Feldman & Schellman II:326)
Color screenprint
Signed and numbered Andy Warhol 34/50
2020 Auction Results
NO SALE IN 2020
2019 Auction Results
#1. Paolo Uccello (TP 20/36), 1984
Phillips London: 6 June 2019
Estimated: GBP 10,000 – 15,000
GBP 32,500 / USD 41,265
ANDY WARHOL
Details of Renaissance Paintings (Paolo Uccello, St. George and the Dragon, 1460), 1984
Unique screenprint in colors on Arches Aquarelle Cold Pressed paper
Signed and numbered ‘TP 20/36’ in pencil
A trial proof in a unique color combination before the edition of 50 and 12 artist’s proofs
#2. Paolo Uccello (F&S II.327), 1984
LA Modern: 17 February 2019
Estimated: USD 10,000 – 15,000
USD 20,000
ANDY WARHOL (1928–1987)
Details of Renaissance Paintings (Paolo Uccello, St. George and the Dragon, 1460), 1984
(F. Feldman and J. Schellmann #II.327)
Screenprint on Arches Aquarelle paper
Signed with edition lower left margin beneath image
Edition: #8 of 12 artist’s proofs aside from the edition of 50
#3. Paolo Uccello (F&S II.327), 1984
Uppsala Auktions: 11 December 2019
Estimated: SEK 80,000 – 100,000
SEK 130,000 (Hammer)
SEK 162,500 / USD 17,210
ANDY WARHOL (USA 1928‑1987)
”Details of Renaissance Paintings: Paolo Uccello, St. George and the Dragon, 1460”, 1984
(Feldman & Schellman II:327)
Color screenprint
Signed and numbered Andy Warhol 33/50