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Source Description
This drawing is a rare study relating to Ernest Meissonier's never-realized mural for the Pantheon in Paris. After seeking and receiving the commission in 1874, Meisonnier procrastinated on the project for many years. Here, the French heroine Joan of Arc appears at center, without a helmet, on a bare white horse, staring ahead with steadfast calm. The figure of Joan in this drawing appears to correspond to the subject in a now-lost design for the complete painting, which Meissonier presented in 1889.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
166637
label
Joan of Arc
core
obj
dtoType
drawing
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
166637
contentType
drawing
title
Joan of Arc
description
This drawing is a rare study relating to Ernest Meissonier's never-realized mural for the Pantheon in Paris. After seeking and receiving the commission in 1874, Meisonnier procrastinated on the project for many years. Here, the French heroine Joan of Arc appears at center, without a helmet, on a bare white horse, staring ahead with steadfast calm. The figure of Joan in this drawing appears to correspond to the subject in a now-lost design for the complete painting, which Meissonier presented in 1889.
date
c. 1889
rights
CC0
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
wikidata
Q79997170
creators
1661
genreSpecific
Drawing
imageCount
1
source
import
dimensionsRaw
Sheet: 18.8 x 30.3 cm (7 3/8 x 11 15/16 in.)
cul
France, 19th century
accession
2008.358
Source extras
tec
graphite, red chalk, colored washes, and black and white gouache
tombstone
Joan of Arc, c. 1889. Ernest Meissonier (French, 1815–1891). Graphite, red chalk, colored washes, and black and white gouache; sheet: 18.8 x 30.3 cm (7 3/8 x 11 15/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Bequest of Muriel Butkin, 2008.358
supportMaterials
description
blue wove paper (faded in image area to gray-green), laid down on light brown wove paper
collection
DR - French
inscriptions
inscription
Signed with monogram, lower left
didYouKnow
Ernest Meisonnier found the original subject proposed for his Pantheon mural commission—Saint Geneviève—to be uninspiring and instead proposed an allegorical Triumph of France featuring Joan of Arc alongside Charlemagne and Napoleon Bonaparte, among others.
citations
citation
<em>Exposition Meissonier</em>. Exh. Cat. Paris: Galerie Georges Petit, 1893.
page_number
Mentioned: p. 100, no. 464
citation
Gréard, M.O. <em>Jean-Louis-Ernest Meissonier: Ses souvenirs, ses entretiens</em>. Paris: Hachette, 1897.
page_number
Mentioned: p. 432
citation
Foster, Carter E., Sylvain Bellenger, and Patrick Shaw Cable. <em>French Master Drawings from the Collection of Muriel Butkin</em>. Exh. Cat. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2001.
page_number
Mentioned: pp. 126-27, 144, no. 58; Reproduced: p. 127
creditline
Bequest of Muriel Butkin
updatedAt
2026-05-29 08:36:23.945000
sourceId
166637
dept
Drawings
coll
DR - French
med
graphite, red chalk, colored washes, and black and white gouache
creatorTags
male
thumbnail_url
image_url
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
c582173ffa65f6a8