Equestrian statue of Joan of Arc (Paris) explained

Joan of Arc
Artist:	Paul Dubois
Year:	1889 (plaster)
Metric Unit:	cm
Imperial Unit:	in
City:	Paris, Reims, Strasbourg, Washington DC (casts)

Joan of Arc is a monumental bronze sculpture by French sculptor Paul Dubois. It depicts Joan of Arc both as a warrior and as a divinely inspired visionary.

The original plaster was presented at the Salon in 1889, on a commission by the city of Reims in 1887.^[1] Dubois donated it in 1902 to the Musée Paul-Dubois-Alfred Boucher in Nogent-sur-Seine,^[2] now an annex of the Musée Camille Claudel.^[3] An earlier plaster version is at the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek in Copenhagen.^[4]

There are four casts of the sculpture in public settings:^[5]

• in front of Saint-Augustin Church in Paris (1895), cast by Edmond Gruet Jeune, purchased in 1895 by the Fine Arts Directorate of the French Government and placed on its current location in 1900;^[6]
• in front of Reims Cathedral (1896), cast by with finishings by, inaugurated by President Félix Faure on Bastille Day 1896;
• in front of St Maurice's Church, Strasbourg (1897), cast by E. Gruet Jeune, initially intended for the Musée du Luxembourg; then placed in Strasbourg in front of the Palais du Rhin in 1922, damaged by German occupation forces during World War II, and placed in its current location in 1965;
• on Meridian Hill Park (1922), reduced-scale cast by Rudier, inaugurated on January 6, 1923, in presence of President Warren G. Harding.^[7]

See main article: Equestrian statue of Joan of Arc (Washington, D.C.).

See also

• Jeanne d'Arc (Frémiet)

Notes and References

1. Web site: Jeanne d'Arc. POP : la plateforme ouverte du patrimoine . 2012.
2. Web site: Statue équestre de Jeanne d'Arc . Musée Camille Claudel.
3. Web site: Dubois-Boucher annex . Musée Camille Claudel.
4. Web site: Jeanne d'Arc . Musée d'Orsay.
5. Book: Le fondeur et le sculpteur: Technique du bronze et histoire de l'art . Elisabeth Lebon . Le monument équestre de Jeanne d’Arc ou les étranges rapports entre Pierre Bingen et Edmond Gruet . Institut National d'Histoire de l'Art . Traverses . Paris . 2012. 9782917902882 .
6. La guerre des statues. La statuaire publique, un enjeu de violence symbolique : l'exemple des statues de Jeanne d'Arc à Paris entre 1870 et 1914 . 2010. Christel Sniter . Sociétés & Représentations.
7. Web site: Smithsonian Institution Art Inventories Catalog . Joan of Arc, (sculpture).