St. Joan in Art

http://teaattrianon.blogspot.com/2011/04/poem-to-honor-jeanne-darc.html

Tu, Jehanne, de bonne heure née,
Benoist soit cil qui te créa!
Pucelle de Dieu ordonnée,
En qui le Saint Esprit réa
Sa grant grace, en qui ot et a
Toute largesse de hault don,
N'onc requeste ne te véa.
Qui te rendra assez guerdon?

Blessed be He who created thee, Joan,
Who wast born at a propitious hour!
Maiden sent from God,
Into whom the Holy Ghost poured
His great grace, in Whom there was and is
An abundance of noble gifts,
Never did Providence refuse thee any request.
Who can ever begin to repay thee?

St. Joan in Prison by Howard Pyle


The Call of St. Joan by Bastien-LePage


St. Joan by Mucha

http://preraphaelitepaintings.blogspot.com/2012/05/joan-of-arc-john-everett-millais-1865.html



St. Joan by John Everett Millais

Sainte Jeanne d'Arc, basilique Saint Pol Aurélien, Saint-Pol-de-Léon, Finistère (Bretagne). Photo par M.Hyacinthe DesJars de Keranrouë.

Wonderful pictures!!

Thanks! More to come!

Via La France pittoresque:
Affiche pour la pièce "Jeanne d'Arc" (1890) de Jules Barbier, Théâtre de la Porte-Saint-Martin, avec Sarah Bernhardt




(Via The Dove and the Rose)


Sainte Jeanne d'Arc par Jean II Benner (1836-1909)

My favorite.

http://maryvictrix.com/2009/06/11/damsels-in-distress/

It surprised me to see how often Joan of Arc has been used as a vehicle for propaganda.

I admit, it shouldn't have surprised me, all things considered, but I thought I'd share two of my findings:



This is reasonable enough, particularly since France and the United States were on the same side so to speak. Joan of Arc was an ally of the U.S by extension, I guess.



This one was a bigger plot twist. A pro-German poster of 1943, it declares that criminals always return to the scene of the crime in reference to the English.

Thank you very much for posting these. I have seen the second one before and have been looking for it for years. There is also a WWII poster from France Libre which shows Joan as well. I would love to find it again.

I did a cursory google search and couldn't find anything like you're describing, alas. The closest I found was this:



It is an image of Joan's martyrdom, bearing the cross of Lorraine, which was the emblem of Gaulist resistance to the Vichy government?

I also scanned this in:



It's Joan of Arc leading a French army from the 19th century. It appears that some Napoleanic soldiers are coming to help her. My father used to read me this story when I was a little girl and I remember him sarcastically commenting that Joan didn't do her army much good since the French suffered a colossal defeat. He must've really liked the joke because I showed him the picture again and over a decade later he made the same joke.

He must think he's so very witty.

I'm quite fond of this image myself



if for no other reason than for how apathetic Joan looks. "You're burning me at the stake? Whatever."

But if I wanted to keep with my theme of posting propaganda, I could note that Joan is definitely feminized despite historical evidence to the contrary. For practicality's sake Joan cropped her hair short and when she was taken to the stake I believe she was almost completely shaven. She was also crowned with a dunce cap that enumerated her heresies.



So too with this picture. To make Joan less scandalous she has her legs partly covered by something of a dress.

Not a capital offense for the painters, of course, but I do find it somewhat ironic. It is often forgotten that for all Joan claimed to be hearing voices from heaven the heresy she was burned for was wearing men's clothes. By stuffing her back into more feminine attire the artist is almost implicitly agreeing with her accusers.

You FOUND it! The first one on your last post is it!! I love it! Thank you, Bunnies!

Great pics and commentary. Joan did wear a surcoat, a long tunic, and a nice one, too, so they say.

Elena wrote:You FOUND it! The first one on your last post is it!! I love it! Thank you, Bunnies!

Great pics and commentary. Joan did wear a surcoat, a long tunic, and a nice one, too, so they say.

Yay, I found it!

Oh, did she wear a long tunic? I do remember reading the British criticizing her penchant for fashion so that makes sense.

You got it!

I found this image:



It's of a white marble statue of Joan of Arc at versailles. I think she looks fierce here, yet still maintaining her femininity. That's how I tend to picture the Maid...

Wonderful!

Music is a form of art, no?

Joan, performed by Heather Dale. Very pretty song I think. I rather like the lyric They won't call me as mother, or sister, or wife...They'll know me as Joan, if only because it (perhaps accidentally?) highlights the Maid's unfortunately unusual position as an historical figure. She is not known because she married or mothered a king, she is not known because of her connections or situation: she is known for her role in the 100 Years War, her actions and in turn she is the reference point for other figures ("Oh, Charles VII! He was the King Joan of Arc fought for!").

I am less pleased with the lyric "I kill without consequence...to mow down the men who refuse to repent" as that is historically inaccurate - Joan of Arc never personally killed anyone, and had she done so she would not have been proud of it. As for the latter half, Joan never pretended that the English were ungodly or that they were doomed, she just said simply that God told her to send them away from France. Repentance was not a factor, it was not a Holy War. I suppose the singer was trying to expand the meaning of the words to be a general battle cry for Christianity, but a different vehicle could have been chosen besides Joan...

But yeah, I still like it very much.

Great!

Henry Tanner, "The House of Joan of Arc at Domrémy" (Via Peter Kurth)

Here is a Russian site with many Joan of Arc paintings.

http://yassena.livejournal.com/186448.html?thread=4098128

I have finally been able to see the remastered edition of the 1948 film Joan of Arc starring Ingrid Bergman and Jose Ferrer, with all the deleted scenes restored, so that it is altogether another movie. What a masterpiece! It is two and a half hours long, whereas the abridged version that we are all used to seeing is only one hundred minutes. Joan's father is shown in the new edition, as are her brothers. There is more about the relatives and friends who helped her along the way. The court at Chinon is given extra time, as is the coronation of Charles VII. The political squabbles which shaped Joan's fate are expanded upon as are the matters concerning the Catholic faith. The most glorious scene is when Joan receives her Viaticum. The trial and execution are lengthened as well. It seems they edited out the scenes with heavy spirituality; thus the restored version has much more substance. St. Joan's spiritual life is explored in a way which displays remarkable insight for a film crafted by not particularly religious people. But then, the screenplay is taken directly from the records of Joan's two trials, making for an authentic portrayal, as the real Joan is allowed to speak. Ingrid Bergman was not a believer but as an accomplished actress she was able to project the radiant faith of Joan. In fact, Ingrid had great devotion to the saint and herself helped to finance the film. Directed by Victor Fleming and based upon the play by Maxwell Anderson, the movie captures the season of miracles which was Joan's life. It is a magnificent, life-changing production, very relevant for our time.

The new edition, which we watched on a Netflix DVD, in having more depth also has more darkness. For anyone who has seriously tried to live the spiritual life, or who has been faced with interior trials heaped upon exterior sufferings, this film is a must-see. It is one of the most heart-wrenching depictions of the dark night of the soul, as Joan, through the betrayal of her king and the enmity of her foes, descends into a pit of utter misery and abandonment. Her tormentors are other baptized Roman Catholics. I have felt the heaviness of her torment when watching the other version but much more so in the new edition. It is the kind of experience that helps put one's trials in perspective, sorting out the trite from the significant, as the soul realizes again that what matters most is the will of God.
More here:
http://teaattrianon.blogspot.com/2014/01/joan-of-arc-1948-redux.html