The Vision and Inspiration (Joan of Arc series: I)

c. 1907-early 1909

Louis Maurice Boutet de Monvel

Painter, French, 1850 - 1913

A woman to our right kneels with her hands in prayer as she looks to our left at a vision in a landscape in this horizontal painting. The vision is of a person wearing gold armor, who is flanked by two more people, all encased an oval-shaped full-body halo. The people all have smooth, pale skin, and the women have ash-blond hair. The armored person, Saint Michael, has copper-colored hair and he hovers, feet hanging loose, low over the ground. His body is angled sharply to our right. Both of his arms are outstretched in front of him at shoulder height, and he holds up a gold sword with his right hand. The end of the long sword disappears into the leafy canopy above. Pale pink and blue wings spread from his shoulders. The people to either side of him both wear white dresses patterned with gold designs, and each stands on a shell-pink cloud. The woman closer to us has a halo and holds a silver helmet. The woman farther from us holds out a long, slender, silver sword with both hands. The encompassing halo is ringed with narrow flames. This trio and the halo take up the leftmost third of the composition. They are backed and surrounded by olive-green and golden brown trees. A thick tree trunk immediately to their right has two gouges taken from near the roots. The kneeling woman wears a black scarf and pink jacket-like garment over a long beige dress. She faces our left in profile, looking up at Saint Michael with her lips parted and her eyebrows lifted. Six cream-white sheep stand and lie on the ground behind her, to our right. A basket near her feet has tipped over, spilling its white contents. Grassy hills dotted with pale green trees extends into the deep distance. Puffy peach clouds line the horizon, which comes just over halfway up the composition. The artist signed the lower left corner, “M.Boutet de Monvel.”

Media Options

This object’s media is free and in the public domain. Read our full Open Access policy for images.
On View

West Building Ground Floor, Gallery G4


Artwork overview


Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Commissioned by William A. Clark [1839-1925], New York; bequest April 1926 to the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington; acquired 2015 by the National Gallery of Art.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1981

  • The Artist as Illustrator, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, 31 March - 14 June 1981, no catalogue.

2001

  • Antiquities to Impressionism: The William A. Clark Collection, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, 2001-2002, unnumbered catalogue, repro.

2006

  • Joan of Arc, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, 18 November 2006 - 21 January 2007, no. 1, repro.

Bibliography

1925

  • Carroll, Dana H. Catalogue of Objects of Fine Art and Other Properties at the Home of William Andrews Clark, 962 Fifth Avenue. Part I. Unpublished manuscript, n.d. (1925): 22-23, no. A.

1928

  • Corcoran Gallery of Art. Illustrated Handbook of the W.A. Clark Collection. Washington, 1928: 49, repro. 64.

1932

  • Corcoran Gallery of Art. Illustrated Handbook of the W.A. Clark Collection. Washington, 1932: repro. 46, 52.

Inscriptions

lower left: M.Boutet de Monvel

Wikidata ID

Q46632625


You may be interested in

Loading Results