In this part of the exhibit, we will take the passage and artifacts and attempt to establish a connection between the two that can explain differences in how dragons can be depicted. To begin, let's take a look at how the selected passage from the Shahnameh and the depictions of dragons in the selected artifacts compare to see if we can draw any conclusions. The passage, and the other similar depictions of dragons we discussed earlier, paint the monster in a much more violent and intimidating light, one that is more consistent with contemporary ideas of what dragons should look like and act like. When comparing the depiction in the passage to the depictions we see in two of our artifacts, the difference is night and day. The depictions of Rustam’s dragon and Saint George’s dragon show the dragons to be much less intimidating, and both are in the process of being killed by their respective heroes. They appear much less grandiose compared to the description of Sekandar’s dragon, and both even seem to be similar in size to the humans in their respective depictions. It is also worth noting here that the appearance of both Rustam’s and Saint George’s dragons appears to be more serpent-like than what Sekandar’s dragon is described to look like. This may be because of the fact that the name ‘dragon’ was originally applied to large snakes by classical authors (Senter, Evolution of the Dragon, (New York, N.Y: 2016)). It took many centuries for the understanding of dragons to evolve from a snake to a mythical monster, which was achieved through increasingly incredulous descriptions (Senter, 67). The next thing to consider is why Rustam’s dragon and Saint George’s dragon are depicted as much less intimidating than the one in the passage. We saw a consistent pattern earlier in the exhibit of literary descriptions of dragons being grandiose and larger than life. Why then are the physical depictions so different from the literary? There is a fairly clear possible explanation. The first possibility that comes to mind is that the creator did not want the focus of the sculpture or folio to be the dragon. In other words, the hero, Rustam or Saint George, was supposed to be the focus when people viewed the sculpture. It makes sense that the creator would want the hero to look powerful and victorious, rather than the monster whom they are fighting. This would then explain why the dragons in both the folio and statue of Saint George are being killed. It is especially evident in the statue of Saint George, as it seems as if the creator was making a point of having Saint George appear heroic and victorious, with the way his posture is, as well as the way in which he is dominating the dragon with his foot on its throat. Here we can once again mention the dragon from the Pope’s coat of arms. In this case, we see a dragon that more fits the description from the passage. However, while that is the case, there is no human hero to compare him to. This also may be an indication of a possible trend wherein it is difficult to find visual depictions of dragons and humans together, where the dragon fits the typical literary description. Again, this is likely because of the fact that creators would not want to make the dragon seem more powerful than the hero they are trying to represent.