Joan of Arc was a young, French peasant girl born in 1412 in northeastern France. By the young age of 13, Joan began to hear voices that called her to save France from the English invasion in what was later called The Hundred Years’ War. After convincing the crown prince, Charles VII, that she would lead the French to victory, she began to fend off the Seige of Orléans in 1429. A year later she was captured by the English tried and sentenced to burn at the stake at the age of 19. Her heroism was heralded for four hundred years till the Franco-Prussian War from 1870-1871 awakened a new wave of Joan of Arc as an icon of victory to come. The resurrgeance was heightened by the fact that the Prussians still held the birthplace of Joan of Arc after the war ended. There has always been a spiritual conection to french victory associated with Joan of Arc, but after the Franco-Prussian war the military icon shifted to the peasant girl receiving the heavenly call to protect her birth place. The following pieces depict Joan of Arc as a symbol of french nationalism but her use as military propoganda has a marked change following the Franco-Prussian War.
Jeanne d’Arc (Joan of Arc), Unknown
C. 1450-1500, gouache and watercolor on paper, miniature in an illustrated manuscript
Archives Nationales de Paris
This miniature depicts an armoured Jane of Arc in a french manuscript a few decades after her death. It is the earliest surviving painting. It signifies her sacrifice was not forgotten soon after her death. The armored Joan stands tall, sword in hand. One does not imagine her as a 19 year old girl burned at the stake but a warrior princess. The artist depicts a banner behind her head with the three saints whose voices she heard: Saint Michael, Saint Catherine, and Saint Margaret. The clear connection between the church and political prestige in this miniature establishes the young girl as an icon after her death and through the coming centuries.
Joan of Arc, Workshop of Peter Paul Rubens
C. 1620(?) And after 1640, Oil on Canvas, 71 ½” x 45 ¾”
The North Carolina Meuseum of Art
While a Flemish artist, Peter Paul Rubens portrayal of Joan of Arc was for his friend the french humanist scholar Nicolar-Claude Fabri de Peiresc, who was publishing a volume of verse and poems that honored the French hero two hundred years after her death. Rubens paints the Maid of Orléans as an armored figure bowing in prayer before an altar, her helmet and gauntlets tossed to the side. Here, Rubens emphasizes her devotion to the Catholic faith and her prowess as a military leader.
Jeanne d’Arc au sacre du roi Charles VII, dans la cathédral de Reims (Joan of Arc at the Coronation of Charles VII at the Reims Cathedral), Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres
1854, Oil on Canvas, 7’ 10” x 5’ 10”
The Louvre
In 1851, the french Director of Fine Arts commissioned Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres to paint a subject of his choosing. Ingres responded by providing two paintings which he was already working on: Joan of Arc at the Coronation of Charles VII at the Reims Cathedral and Virgin with a Host. Ingres painted a strong victoious Joan thanking the Saints who had called her to victory while she stood at the coronation of the king she helped place on the throne. Joan is adorned in full length armor and a halo and her hand rests on an altar signifying her spiritual connection.
Joan of Arc at Domrémey, Henri Chapu
1870-1872, Marble Statue on a Base, H 46”
Musée d’Orsay
During the Franco-Prussian War, Chapu began his neoclassical statue. Here we see a young peasant girl first hearing the voices of the saints. She patiently sits like a child at her father’s feet with her knees underneath her and clasped hands. This is a very different Joan of Arc than the french have chosen to portray Joan up to this point. Even though the country was at war, the emphasis is not on her victory already won but on the victory to come promised by the Saints. Perhaps this switch in the stylization of Joan comes from the fact that France suffered major territorial losses and Paris had been held under siege. This sculpture also coincides with a turn to naturalism and focus on peasant life in some art circles.
Jeanne d’Arc (Joan of Arc), Emanuel Frémiet
1874, Gilded Bronze Sculpture, 13’
Place des Pyramides, Paris
While depictions of Joan of Arc shift from french nationalism as military prowess after the war, a few artists still chose to remind France that their icon had won the battle and so they had fended off the Prussians in this war as well. Frémiet embraced the image of Joan of Arc on her stead victorious after the Siege of Orléans. The gilded statue of an armored Joan holding aloft the banners of victory reminded Paris that while they had to rebuild they were victorious. It is interesting to note that here there is little attention paid to her spiritual calling.
Joan of Arc, Jules Bastien-Lepage
1879, Oil on Canvas, 100” x 110”
Metropolitan Meuseum of Art
In Bastien-Lepage’s envisioning of Joan of Arc’s call to follow the Saints, we return to the young peasant girl. Bastien-Lepage paints in a tradition of rural naturalism and in preparation for this painting visited Lorraine, Joan’s birthplace. Lorraine had been given to the Prussians in the treaty that ended the Franco-Prussian War, and they continued to hold the territory until World War I. Perhaps the return to the voices depicted here points to a return of victory promised. With Joan of Arc, the Maid of Orléans, to guide them french nationalism and victory remains intact if perhaps not fulfilled.
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