At first glance, nothing appears to be amiss in the Church of Saint George Maggiore in Naples, Italy. Beside the main altar and flanked by a semicircle of white columns is a magnificent, 16th-century painting by Alessio D’Elia, depicting the life of San Severo. It’s an unassuming composition until, almost like a window, the canvas swings open to reveal a vibrant fresco on the wall behind it.

This fresco also hails from the Baroque period, but it was hidden for centuries until renovators discovered it while restoring the church in 2022. Painted by Aniello Falcone around 1645, the fresco dramatizes the battle between St. George and a dragon, its mouth agape with pointed teeth.