Full-length Portrait Of Joan Of Arc

Painting depicting Joan of Arc, created between the late 17th and early 18th centuries.

The identity of Joan of Arc, known as the “Maiden of Orléans,” is first confirmed by the Latin inscription: “Virago Aurelianensis, profligatis debellatisque Anglis, ad sexus sui miraculum ovans.” ” This translates literally as: “The warrior woman of Orléans, having routed and defeated the English, triumphant to the astonishment of her own sex. ”

Subsequently, the iconography of Joan of Arc, up until the mid-19th century, drew on two main models. The first draws on the bronze monument erected in the 16th century on the Orléans Bridge, where the heroine is depicted kneeling, clad in armor. The second, more widespread model derives from the tradition known as the “Jeanne des échevins,” a work housed at the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Orléans (1581, inv. A.6922), which depicts a female figure reminiscent of depictions of Judith in painting. In this version, Joan is no longer in armor but is dressed in a gown, wearing a beret adorned with five feathers, and holding a sword raised toward the sky, a symbol of justice. This second iconographic tradition enjoyed wider circulation, as evidenced by the numerous engravings derived from it that have survived to this day.

France, late 17th–early 18th century.

Height: 190 cm

Width: 126 cm