Maurice Langaskens, born in Ghent, first studied at the École des Arts Décoratif in Paris. His training was then continued at the Academy of Art in Brussels, from 1901 till 1905, where he established himself as an artist and writer. After serving in the army, Langaskens enjoyed his first solo exhibition in 1907 in Brussels. The following year he exhibited at the Salon of Pour l’Art. On August 1, 1914, Langaskens was drafted into the Army and within ten days captured by the German army. While he spent the remainder of World War I as a prisoner of war, he created some of his most famous paintings while being imprisoned. The monumental triptych Repose en paix (Rest in Peace), from 1915, commemorates his fellow soldier Camille Decraemer, who died of a heart condition while in the prison camp.

Langaskens’ early work is in the style of Art Nouveau and very much inspired by the British Pre-Raphaelites choice of subject matter from mythology while also incorporating the tradition of Flemish old masters. While Langaskens surely was aware of Dürer’s great example of Saint George on Horseback from 1505, he repositions his Christian martyr against a dramatic art-deco background in art deco style. This ideal tale of romantic medieval chivalry was popular around the turn of the century and a print was made after the painting.