Ai Weiwei Recreates Carpaccio's Saint George with Lego for Venetian Abbey

Chinese artist Ai Weiwei has created a Lego reinterpretation of Vittore Carpaccio's 1516 altarpiece 'Saint George and the Dragon' for the Abbey of San Giorgio Maggiore in Venice. The work, titled 'Untitled (Saint George slaying the dragon),' replaces the original painting temporarily loaned to exhibitions in Washington and Venice. Commissioned by the Benedictine monks of the Benedicti Claustra Onlus, the installation is displayed in the empty space left by the altarpiece until June 18, 2023. Ai Weiwei previously experimented with Lego in two other works, 'Sleeping Venus (After Giorgione)' and 'Know Thyself,' commissioned by Galleria Continua. The abbey, designed by Andrea Palladio, hosts the monks who sought to revive dialogue between the abbey and contemporary art. The project's title, 'Ego vici mundum,' quotes John 16:33, linking the biblical victory of good over evil to Ai Weiwei's human rights activism. Carpaccio's lesser-known 1516 painting, housed in the Choir Chapel (also called Chapel of the Conclave for hosting the 1800 papal election of Pius VII), gained new visibility through this pop reinterpretation. The original 1502 version of Carpaccio's Saint George resides at the Scuola di San Giorgio degli Schiavoni.