Bastien-Lepage's
One of the most remarkable works in the 19th Century European Paintings section of the Metropolitan Museum of Art is Jules Bastien-Lepage's 1879 Joan of Arc (Jeanne d'Arc). Although displayed in a long hall featuring a number of other paintings, reliefs, and sculptures, it draws a certain amount of attention because of its superior size. (100 x 110 inches) Yet despite its large scale, it does seem slightly crammed in with the great amount of other works collected in the room. (A piece of this size should be shown in a somewhat grander fashion; isolated more to highlight its magnificence.) It is flanked by Alfred Stevens' In the Studio and Alexandre Cabanel's Birth of Venus on the left and right, respectively. Jeanne d'Arc seems to fit in with the works surrounding it, which logically all come from roughly the same time period. Paintings such as fellow Frenchman Pierre-Auguste Cot's The Storm compliment it particularly well. As detailed in the accompanying text panel, the work was originally put on public display in the Salon of 1880. There, it could be viewed with a host of other pieces by critics and commoners alike. The subject matter of Jeanne d'Arc would have been of particular interest to the French people.
It is the final piece of the composition, the image of Jeanne herself, that is quite possibly the most breathtaking. At first glance, she is just a girl-- a peasant no doubt, judging by her tattered and dirty dress. Seeming consumed or distracted, she has walked away from the work she was doing, leaving the bench in front of her spinning wheel overturned. She is juxtaposed using an accurate sense of spatial relationships, being much larger than the figures in the middle ground, which are in turn are greater in size than objects in the deep background, such as the house. Further examination of her shows much more than that, however. In her crystalline eyes, Bastien-Lepage expertly captures a sense of ingenuous longing. Furthermore, the serene countenance and inquisitive gaze he has given her project a feeling of divine inspiration in a very different manner than many other religious paintings do. While she is in a way being touched by God, she still retains the wonder and innocence of a simple French woman. (This was doubtless one of Bastien-Lepage's intentions-to liken such a significant and venerated figure to the common people of France, promoting French nationalism.) Reaching out with her hand and grasping leaves on one of the many pieces of shrubbery, the realistic figure is tied into the more impressionistic surroundings, unifying the varied aspects of the piece, making the composition a whole. Between the natural splendor of the backing landscape and the large female figure in front, is one of the most fascinating aspects of the work, the spirit-like figures of St. Michael, St. Margaret, and St. Catherine. While the placement of these apparitions might at first seem odd in what could be a normal, pseudo-domestic setting, it is necessary to know the story of Jeanne d'Arc's life to understand their place. From early childhood on, she heard voices from God, who used these Saints as His means of communication. It was at the behest of these voices that Jeanne, dubbed "La Pucelle d'Lorraine," rallied the French army against the English invaders and aid
Some common words found in the essay are:
Jeanne Catherine, Pissarro Renoir, Domremy Lorraine, Cot's Storm, Impressionist Realist, Arc Jeanne, Margaret Catherine, Galette Objects, Galette Renoir, Millet's Gleaners, jeanne d'arc, moulin de la, realist paintings, lighting effects, female figure, st margaret, st michael, piece composition, plein air, de la galette, en plein air, en plein, la galette,
Approximate Word count = 1408
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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