“Joan of Arc”
“Joan of Arc” is a gorgeous oil on canvas painting by the French artist, Jules Bastien-Lepage, and dates to 1879.
Jules Bastien-Lepage was an artist who worked in the mid to late nineteenth century. During this time, France had recently lost several provinces to Germany after the end of the Franco-Prussian war and the story of Joan of Arc was revitalized as it came to symbolize more current affairs. With the revitalized national patriotism, she was repopularized as a symbol of France.
In this piece, Bastien-Lepage depcts the scene when Joan was 13 years old and first visited by angels. According to legend, during the Hundred Years War, Saint Catherine, Saint Margaret, and Saint Michael appeared to Joan while she worked in her father’s garden and told her to drive the English out of France.
When this painting was displayed for the first time, one of the main critiques was that the apparitions visible were conflicting with his naturalism style. Overall, it was highly praised. For such a strong subject, this piece is quite lovely.
“Joan of Arc” is currently on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City in the United States.
For more on Jules Bastien-Lepage, please visit his short biography here.
You can find more artists to learn about here.
