- CountryFrance
- Town:Montebourg
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Year of creation:1899
- Rider(s):Jeanne d'Arc
(c. 1412–1431), with her alias The Maid of Orléans, is a national heroine of France as well as a Catholic saint. Born a peasant girl in eastern France, she asserted that she had visions from God instructing her to free her country from English domination. The dauphin Charles sent her to the siege of Orléans as part of a relief mission. She gained prominence when she overcame the sceptical attitude of veteran commanders and lifted the siege in only nine days. She then led the French army to several important victories, which paved the way for the coronation of Charles VII in Reims, thus settling the disputed succession to the throne.
The Burgundians captured Jeanne d’Arc a few months later and sold her to the English. An ecclesiastical court tried her, with the result that she was burned at the stake, at only 19 years old. Twenty-five years after the execution, pope Callixtus III examined the trial, pronounced her innocent and declared her a martyr. She was canonized in1920 and is one of the patron saints of France.
- Sculptor(s):Moreau and Le Nordez
Mathurin Moreau (1822- 1912) was a French sculptor, known for his many decorative sculptures, in particular an impressive number of fountains. Moreau was mayor of the 19th arrondissement of Paris from 1897 until his death in 1912. Pierre Le Nordez (1814 – 1892) was a French sculptor, specialized in the creation of horses.
Together they created the statue of Jeanne d’Arc, ordered by the nephew of Pierre Le Nordez: the bishop Albert Le Nordez. Le Nordez sculpted the horse and Moreau the heroine. The original statue was inaugurated in Montebourg in 1899. There are six copies of the statue in France.
This original statue of Jeanne d’Arc in Montebourg, sculpted by Mathurin Moreau and Pierre Le Nordez is badly neglected. The replicas of this statue in Alise-Sainte-Reine, Ballon d’Alsace and Gandrange look much better.
