Artwork Page for Joan of Arc

Details / Information for Joan of Arc

Joan of Arc

c. 1889

Ernest Meissonier

(French, 1815–1891)
Culture
France, 19th century
Medium
graphite, red chalk, colored washes, and black and white gouache
Support
Blue wove paper (faded in image area to gray-green), laid down on light brown wove paper
Measurements
Sheet: 18.8 x 30.3 cm (7 3/8 x 11 15/16 in.)
Credit Line
Bequest of Muriel Butkin 2008.358
Public Domain
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Location
Not on view
Print
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Did You Know?

Ernest Meisonnier found the original subject proposed for his Pantheon mural commission—Saint Geneviève—to be uninspiring and instead proposed an allegorical Triumph of France featuring Joan of Arc alongside Charlemagne and Napoleon Bonaparte, among others.

Description

This drawing is a rare study relating to Ernest Meissonier's never-realized mural for the Pantheon in Paris. After seeking and receiving the commission in 1874, Meisonnier procrastinated on the project for many years. Here, the French heroine Joan of Arc appears at center, without a helmet, on a bare white horse, staring ahead with steadfast calm. The figure of Joan in this drawing appears to correspond to the subject in a now-lost design for the complete painting, which Meissonier presented in 1889.
A horizontally oriented graphite and red chalk drawing on beige paper depicts a procession of figures. To our left, a knight on a dark horse holds a vertical lance. Centered, a figure in armor rides a pale horse with its head turned slightly right, defined by opaque white gouache highlights. To our right, another rider carries a large banner. Faint red chalk outlines form background figures, while visible lines add volume to the primary subjects.

Joan of Arc

c. 1889

Ernest Meissonier

(French, 1815–1891)
France, 19th century

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