There were many beautiful things that I saw during my trip to Europe, and one of them was the statue of Jeanne D' Arc in the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, France. It was in this cathedral where they "beautified" Joan of Arc in 1909, roughly 500 years after her death. (She'd not be declared a saint until 1920.) I've googled the statue and have yet to find any information on who exactly made the statue or when it was added to Notre Dame in Paris.
I suppose most of the appeal of the statue is her pose, one reflecting her close connection to God with her beloved banner. The statue has her mostly in armor except for her hands which helps keep a feminine look to the statue. The face is pleasant but honest and not romanticized. There is a lot of detail on the armor, though my pictures came out pretty soft-looking. There wasn't a lot of lighting in the cathedral, and I had to eventually use Photoshop to lighten the photos.
It's interesting that the sculptor choose to keep the helmet on Joan's head. One possible reason was that Joan wore short hair and back then, woman with short, "manish" hair was still controversial. After all, there are paintings incorrectly depicting Joan of Arc having long hair. (Others with her brandishing a sword, but I digress.)
In other words, it's a fitting tribute to someone I admire.
