Joan of Arc
By far my most requested piece, I wanted to finally attempt an artistic depiction of Joan of Arc (Jeanne d’Arc in her native French) despite the fact that we have absolutely no contemporary portraits of her. This is different than my usual posting, so keep in mind I’ve taken huge artistic liberties with even the statue I’ve worked from, and included some elements from physical descriptions of her. What we know about her appearance is that she was short (about 5’2”) and muscular with a short neck. She had short black hair - artistic depictions of her actually popularized the bob hairstyle in the early 20th century. We also know she had prominent, wide-set eyes and a darker than average complexion due to her peasant upbringing in the sun. She was also said to be reasonably good-looking with a happy expression and quiet demeanor. I have a YouTube creation & explainer video on my channel Royalty Now Studios if you’re interested in checking that out.
The statue that I’ve worked from is a statue head of St. Maurice from a church in Orleans. Based on the location and 15th century creation date, combined with some features matching her physical descriptions, there is a general agreement that it is a representation of Jeanne d’Arc. It looks as though the sculptor lacked some skill and finesse on the top half (eyes don’t generally look that frog-like), so I’ve adjusted artistically there.
I don’t have room to talk about Joan’s fascinating life here, but there are some fantastic & reputable sources just on the first page of google that you can get some great info from if you’d like to learn more about the warrior maid from Orleans.Make sure you check out the prints available (and bookmarks coming soon) of this work on the Royalty Now Etsy Store - link in bio. Thank you for all of the support that helps me continue doing what I do.
Left Portrait: I couldn’t for the life of me find credit for this image anywhere online. Please contact me if you have a source for this image. Right Portrait base: iStock Photo. Info sources: jeanne-darc.info, monio.info
Process Video: