It is one of fourteen sculptures commissioned by the guilds of Florence[1] to decorate the external niches of the Orsanmichele church.

St. George was commissioned by the guild of the armorers and sword makers, the Arte dei Corazzai e Spadai.

A stone thrown at the sculpture in 1858 broke its nose,[2] and in 1892 Donatello's St. George was moved to the Bargello Museum in Florence.

The original sculpture was stolen from the Villa Medici in Poggio a Caiano, but in May 1945 it was recovered by Frederick Hartt in Neumelans in the South Tyrol and returned to Florence on 20 July 1945.

[5] There is a stone relief under the figure, that is displaying a woman observing St George slaying the dragon in the middle.