You’ve got it right—back in the age of parchment, dragons were all claws and shadows, a mirror of the world’s fears. In the Renaissance, artists started to see them as something that could carry a noble breath, almost like a mythic knight. It’s like the art world finally decided dragons could wear armor instead of just barbs, reflecting the era’s love for symmetry and order. It’s almost as if the dragon learned to look back at its own reflection and decide it wanted a better story.