Equestrian portrait

[1][2] Equestrian statues were made at least as far back as Ancient Rome and the Hellenistic period.

Images of the Thracian horseman were recurrent in reliefs and small statues between the fourth century BC and the fourth century AD, especially in Thrace and Moesia Inferior.

[3][4] The bronze Equestrian Statue of Marcus Aurelius in the Capitoline Museums of Rome, of which a replica stands in Piazza del Campidoglio, was erected around 176 AD.

After a period out of favour, equestrian portraits in Europe, including paintings, drawings and sculpture, revived during the Renaissance around the fifteenth century.

The same is true for some other warrior saints, including Demetrius of Thessaloniki and Theodore of Amasea, who are sometimes paired with George.