‘Saint Margaret and the Dragon’ is a painting created in 1518 by Italian Renaissance artist Raphael. The work is painted on Poplar wood and was commissioned by the AAbbotof San Benedetto (Museum). The work depicts Saint Margaret of Antioch, a worshipped Christian saint, and martyr who is celebrated on July 20th of each year. She is known as the patron saint of expectant mothers and their newborn children (Aevum, 192). Raphael portrays Margaret in a confrontation with the devil who has taken the form of a dragon. This paper will attempt to explain the legend of Saint Margaret and its different interpretations across history as to show that it resulted in a revival of popularity in the Renaissance because of its heroical attributes that gave hope and courage to the Christian people. Historical records place the legend of Saint Margaret as originating in 9th century Greece by an author named Theotimus and expanded across the Christian world (Bledsoe, 30). Saint Margaret was said to have been born in the year 289 C.E in the Ancient city of Antioch which is located in modern-day Turkey. Her name ‘Margaret’ is itself significant as it is a translation of the Latin word for ‘Pearl’ which meant she was blessed through the shining force of virginity, humility, and miracles (Bledsoe, 42). She was the daughter of a powerful Pagan priest named Aedesius and lost her mother at birth (Pierce, 71). She was raised by a very pious Christian woman on the outskirts of Antioch, throughout her childhood she was told of the teachings of Jesus Christ and convinced herself that her faith and virginity belonged only to God (Bledsoe 31). Margaret would later decide to reject her Paganist heritage in favor of membership within a Christian family as she no longer had faith in the Pagan Gods (31). On one day Margaret was herding sheep in her home when she was seen by Olibrius, the local Pagan Governor of the area (Pierce, 71). Olibrius was struck by her great beauty and was determined to make her his bride or mistress depending on her social status (71). Margaret was aware of his intentions but refused his several advances because she was a noble Christian and wanted to devote her virginity to God (71). Olibrius demanded to Margaret on several occasions for her to marry him and worship the Pagan Gods, but she refused and prayed God would protect her, this would result in her arrest and imprisonment in a small and dark Jail cell (71). Margaret prayed God to show her enemy, the devil which had taken the form of a smoke-breathing dragon named Ruffon appeared in her cell (Hamblin, 34). The devil’s description as a dark being within the story parallels the biblical association of darkness with evil and hell is shown in the painting as the dragon is portrayed in a dark shade of green while Margaret is painted in light blue, a color associated with the healing power of God (Delfin, 596). The red cloth Margaret wears on her arm is biblically signifying love and suffering which is important because Margaret suffers heavily as a Christian Martyr (596). The dragon’s rounded mouth and teeth are shown in a very dark shade of black as they are meant to signify the terrifying abyss of hell and the horrible breath of Satan (596). Margaret is swallowed by the dragon in one single gulp (596).Instead, of falling into the abyss, she makes the sign of the cross and bursts from the dragon unharmed (Pearce, 71). Margaret is described in this scene as having been ‘born’ from the dragon’s stomach and thus referenced as the patron saint of expectant mothers and newborn children as she has the power to defeat the devil. Following this event, a very dark man approaches Margaret and introduces himself as Beelzebub, the king of the devils (Delfin, 596). He explains to her that he was sent to destroy her chastity but was subdued by the power of her virginity (Aevum, 192). Margaret sends Beelzebub back to hell and is visited in her cell by a dove that praises her faith and encourages her to continue worshipping God (Hamblin, 34). Margaret is sentenced to death by Olibrius the following day for converting several thousand people to Christianity (Bledsoe, 31). her execution was believed to have been dated on July 20th 304 C.E (Bledsoe, 33). Before her death, she encouraged Christians to pray to her when they were in need, she emphasized her devotion to aiding the needs of pregnant women and became very popular as a result of this, she is then beheaded and the angels transport her to heaven where she receives a special position of sainthood characterized by the importance of devotion to God and virginity (31). There are significant differences in the story and portrayals of Saint Margaret in the Eastern Orthodox and Western Roman Catholic churches because of the Great Schism of 1054 which resulted in the separation of Christianity (31). Saint Margaret is most importantly referenced as Saint Marina in the Eastern Orthodox church because it is said to be the original Greek name of Margaret before her translation to Latin (31). In Eastern medieval art, female saints such as Saint Margaret were rarely characterized with special attributes or featured like in Western Art, most women had very generic oval faces and regular body features (Drewer, 13). An example of this feature is ‘The Mystic Marriage of St. Catherine of Alexandria’ commissioned by Barna de Siena, the work itself portrays Saint Catherine receiving a ring from Jesus Christ and becoming his spiritual bride as a sign of her devotion to God and virginity, below a younger Jesus is shown with his mother Mary and grandmother Saint Anne. Under a scene in which an Archangel reconciles a fighting couple and the angel Gabriel subdues the devil. Marina is shown on the bottom left corner with these simplistic features subduing Beelzebub with a hammer (12). This important collection of significant events in Christianity are all said to tell the story of good triumphing over evil. Although Saint Margaret’s powerful message of not fearing defense and interference has made her very popular in the middle ages, her credibility has been repeatedly questioned by historians and church officials because of the lack of physical and documented evidence of her existence (33). This lack of evidence is said to be the result of the policy of Christian persecutor to destroy all the evidence of their victim’s existence as to stop their story from being told (Spencer, 197). Therefore there was little to no evidence of Saint Margaret if she actually existed except for oral retellings passed downed through generation (197). Saint Margaret was declared part of the Catholic Apocrypha in 494 C. E by Pope Gelasius I and the Council of Trent removed her worship date from the holy Christian calendar in 1969 yet she is still worshipped and honored to this day in the form of churches and monuments named in her honor since the Middle Ages (Bledsoe, 33).