Joan of Arc

A moving picture-narrative of the life of Saint Joan, visually lovely in the deliberately flat style of Puvis de Chavannes. The graphic style and the narrative suggest that the intended audience was young adolescents. Boutet created this about a geneation after the Franco-Prussian War, but the title-page illustration drips with the nationalism, even the revanchisme and imperialism, which followed that miserable conflict. The preface, dated April 1896, echoes this. It is worth noting that about a dozen years ago, a "new" children's picture-book on Saint Joan appeared, with flagrant and unacknowledged imitation of Boutet's art.

3 August 2025

A few years back we went to the National and I was captivated by Boutet de Monvel's art. I spent a long time appreciating the detail in the fabric worn by the court. Exquisite. To not give the wrong impression though, I should add that I also paid attention to the art with cats in it. The joy is in the ability to linger in front of any work or exhibit in any of our state and federal museums.

The opportunity to see art like this is such a gift. I wish everyone had that opportunity and the resources required, regardless of whether or which they might choose.

The first time I read this I didn't pay much attention to the text. I get the whole aim of stirring the nation to a strong national pride, and maybe it helped people show more through the terrible wars to come. That Joan rallied troops to fight back is valuable enough, I understand. But this version of her story is so compressed. She's 16 and volunteering, she leads a resistance that frees Orleans and gets the not very promising Dauphin crowned as King, and is martyred at 19 somehow in less than a month, it feels like.

That's beside the point for me. I love the art.

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One of the great picture books of all time. Still stunning and very moving after more than a century.

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