Paris - Joan of Arc - 1er

Plate XVII - Joan of Arc - Place des Pyramides ...

Few legends of French history are as inspiring as Joan of Arc, the Maid of Orleans. For six centuries Joan has been the subject of plays and of operas (even, thanks to OMD, of popular music) of films and of works of art. The Emmanuel Frémiet gilded equestrian statue of the maid commands attention in the centre of the Place des Pyramides off the Rue de Rivoli. This location is close to the Saint-Honoré Gate where Joan was wounded during her attack on the English in September 1429.

I remember as a young boy seeing the, then already old, 1940’s monochrome film of Joan of Arc starring Ingrid Bergman. Since then Bergman had always been Joan to me. Sadly, as intensely as I examined Frémiet’s rendition of the maid for traces of Miss Bergman, I could see none. It was quite disappointing.

This work is the second ‘revision’ by the sculptor Frémiet and having been commissioned by Napoleon III it dates from 1899. The earlier, and original casting from 1874 was sent by Frémiet himself to Philadelphia in the USA where it may now been seen in Fairmount Park. A replica of this, the later Paris statue, was cast in 1907 and sent to Victoria in Australia, with yet another being cast in 1927 again destined for the USA, this time in Portland Oregon. More 'recently' a third casting was given by the people of France to the US city of New Orleans in 1972, making this perhaps the most recognisable image of Joan in the world today.

No more Ingrid Bergman then?