Napoleon Bonaparte and his Joan of Arc
Togoeva Olga
The article deals with the analysis of the historical circumstances of the installation of the monument to Joan of Arc in Orleans in 1803-1804, which appeared largely thanks to the support of Napoleon Bonaparte. The author examines in detail the features of the political situation that contributed to this decision, as well as the artistic features of the monument, its possible prototypes, its explicit and hidden symbols. A special place in the article is taken by the analysis of bas-reliefs on the pedestal of the monument, which leads the author to the conclusion how politically verified was the decision of the sculptor Edmé Gois Jr. to present to the public the statue of the Pucelle d’Orléans, how subtly were combined in this work of art the realities of the XVth century and of the crucial period of the transition from the Consulate to the Empire.