Joan of Arc," was painted by the French realist artist Jules Bastien-Lepage in 1879. "After the province of Lorraine was lost to Germany following the Franco-Prussian War in 1821, The Frenchmen saw in Joan of Arc a new and powerful symbol. In 1875, Bastien-Lepage, a native of Lorraine began to make studies for a picture of her. In the present painting, exhibited in the Salon of 1880, Joan is shown receiving her revelation in her parents garden. Behind her are Saints Michael, Margaret, and Catherine. (Caption next to painting in The Metropolitan)" Jules Bastien-Lepage creates a realistic atmosphere, including a supernatural, religious-like presence within his painting.
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