1889 sculpture by Paul Dubois in Paris
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 Pierre Bingen [fr] with finishings by Fonderie Thiébaut Frères [fr], 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]