Further Research: Joan of Arc

Joan of Arc

Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres painted 'Joan of Arc on Coronation of Charles VII in the Cathedral of Reims' in 1854. The painting is in the Louvre Museum in Paris. (Image credit: Public domain)

 Before continuing upon my Journey with Joan of Arc I need to discover more about her life and death as this project is about warriors. Joan of Arc (born c. 1412, Domrémy, Bar, France—died May 30, 1431, Rouen; canonized May 16, 1920; feast day May 30; French national holiday, second Sunday in May) was a peasant girl who believed that she was acting under 'divine guidance' (Lanhers, 2021) to defeat the English during the Hundred Years War.  When she was 16 years old she Joan travelled in May 1428 from Domrémy to Vaucouleurs, to speak to the captain of the garrison, Robert de Baudricourt, for permission to join the dauphin. She was not taken seriously however her determination and piety meant that eventually she earned the respect of the people and the captain and she managed not to be considered a witch or mentally unstable, which was quite a feat for a woman at this time.  

Joan of Arc, French heroine and martyr, kneeling before the dauphin Charles (later Charles VII, king of France).

Joan dressed in men's clothes she went with six men to propose her battle plans against the English to the King.   Eventually, an army was mounted however Joan did not engage in active combat she was more a mascot but she was responsible for military strategies 'directing troops and proposing diplomatic solutions to the English (all of which they rejected). Despite her distance from the front lines, Joan was wounded at least twice, taking an arrow to the shoulder during her famed Orléans campaign and a crossbow bolt to the thigh during her failed bid to liberate Paris.' (Cohen, 2021)

Joan of Arc believed she was being directed in her mission by the saints, particularly; St. Michael, St. Catherine of Alexandria, and St. Margaret of Antioch.  Joan of Arc also was known to have a short temper and often disciplined knights and soldiers 'for swearing, behaving indecently, skipping Mass or dismissing her battle plans; she even accused her noble patrons of spinelessness in their dealings with the English.' (Cohen, 2021) At her trial 'when a clergyman with a thick regional accent asked what language her voices spoke, for instance, she retorted that they spoke French far better than he did.'  (Cohen, 2021)  

When she was captured she tried to escape by jumping out of a window into a moat, however, she was knocked unconscious and not seriously hurt.  It was decided she would be tried as a heretic as she claimed to be hearing the voices of the saints and God and she did not act in accordance with the church.  'Further, her trial might serve to discredit Charles VII by demonstrating that he owed his coronation to a witch or at least a heretic.' (Lanhers, 2021) Her trial was complicated and originally there were over 70 charges, Joan refused to answer or clarify points. Eventually, the charges were reduced to 12 and she was threatened with torture if she did not answer these.  However it was decided that she would not respond to torture, she was then sentenced.  (One of the charges was wearing male clothes and, originally she was sentenced to life imprisonment and she seemed to be following the rules one of which was to wear women's clothes, she put these on but days later she was found again wearing men's clothing.  It was decided with that and her continuous relapsing into speaking to the saints and for treason she was handed over to secular authorities where she was sentenced to death by burning at the stake.  'The verdict was never in doubt. 'Her side saw her as a holy virgin, her enemies as a polluted sorceress,” Warner said. She was interrogated thoroughly, the Anglo-Burgundians tried to discredit her by questioning her virginity and linking her to magic. Even her wearing of men’s clothes was used against her, her prosecutors claiming that it was against the natural order of things' (Jarus, 2013) Her last words were 'Jesus, Jesus, Jesus'

You can watch the story here..

Joan's story here will help to inform my work, in the piece I am creating I am trying to visually express devout faith and a spirit that would not be broken.  Her unfaltering belief in her mission and her unwavering faith in God that was tested through her imprisonment and trial and through the battles that she directed. She did not falter and this spirit is why she became the Patron Saint of France.  

References

Lanhers, Y., 2021. Joan of Arc | Biography, Death, Accomplishments, & Facts. [online] Encyclopedia Britannica. Available at: <https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saint-Joan-of-Arc> [Accessed 18 October 2021].

 Cohen, J., 2021. 7 Surprising Facts About Joan of Arc. [online] HISTORY. Available at: <https://www.history.com/news/7-surprising-facts-about-joan-of-arc> [Accessed 18 October 2021].

Jarus, O., 2013. Joan of Arc: Facts & Biography. [online] livescience.com. Available at: <https://www.livescience.com/38288-joan-of-arc.html> [Accessed 18 October 2021].

Cross: Contact Sheets

 For the main image for the Joan of Arc project, I have taken macro images of a rosary using Olympus Stylus SH-2. I used the Super macro function

Here are the shots that  think may work well and the settings

ISO 800 1/20 F4.4

ISO 800 1/20 F4.4

ISO 800 1/50 F4.4

ISO 800 1/30 F4.4

ISO 800 1/60 F4.4

These shots have come out well and I have choices of angle and direction which is what I wanted as I need to add this to fire for the final image.  The small depth of field really focuses the attention here and I am hoping this will work well n the final image and not lose impact. 

Joan of Arc: Developing Ideas - Using Stock Images

 I need for my Joan of arc project some stock images of fire.  This is the less dangerous and easy way to get an image like this.  As this is a short project and I am likely to find a good selection.  This is also useful to IYZ students who are doing their advertising projects. 

I will begin by look at Unsplash

Here are some potential images 

Nathan Lindahl (Unsplash)

Be careful on Unsplash as the top images on the page you would need to pay for - scroll down to free images

Cullen Smith (Unsplash)

This image has more potential as there is a black background and no distracting details 

From Pixabay I found these: 

Hans (Pixabay)

Skitterphoto (Pixabay)

I liked this one as it was almost stylized and abstract and I think this could work well with the cross 

Lastly Pexels: 

Anon Pexels

Could be good that it is simple but maybe too simple 

Icon O (Pexels)

This last one is perhaps a little too violent - I am sure that Joan of Arc's death by fire was much more horrible and violent than looking at this however, I want to get across not the violence but the spiritual transcendence.

This is a good start to the background to the work.  I will now begin taking the photographs for the final piece.

Joan of Arc: Developing Ideas

 In my last post, I had some initial ideas that I was exploring.  I am now exploring these further using different processes.  I began with a few sketches and a prayer invoking the spirit of Joan of Arc for spiritual strength.

I used just a 2b pencil and some coloured pencils for the drawings and I put these together with my quick test shot from the last session on Pixlr.  I created a small canvas and just resized to place the images so that they could be viewed together with the prayer. 

I will now do a photoshoot with the cross and look for stock images for the fire to create the final piece.  I might add a prayer as I liked the text element in this development and this could give more impact on the presentation. 

Joan of Arc: Initial Ideas for Warrior Project

 Joan of Arc: Initial Ideas

In this post I will outline my initial ideas for the Warrior Project which I am creating for the IIM 

Above, this 1903 engraving of St. Joan of Arc by Albert Lynch was featured in Figaro Illustre magazine. (photo: Public domain/Wikimedia Commons)

Brief Biography

Joan of Arc was 'born c. 1412, Domrémy, Bar, France—died May 30, 1431, Rouen; She was a national heroine of France, a peasant girl who, believing that she was acting under divine guidance, led the French army in a momentous victory at Orléans that repulsed an English attempt to conquer France during the Hundred Years’ War. Captured a year afterward, Joan was burned to death by the English and their French collaborators as a heretic. She became the greatest national heroine of her compatriots, and her achievement was a decisive factor in the later awakening of French national consciousness.' (Encyclopedia Britannica 2021)

Considering Joan of arc I want to consider the elements that made up her life of martyrdom.  Joan of arc had visions where she believed that God was speaking to her, theories today think that she may have been suffering from mental illness such as;  'one of numerous neurological and psychiatric conditions that trigger hallucinations or delusions, including migraines, bipolar disorder and brain lesions or  that she contracted bovine tuberculosis, which can cause seizures and dementia, from drinking unpasteurized milk and tending cattle as a young girl.' (Cohen, 2021)  This idea of messages from God or a kind of madness could be portrayed through the photographic image also these images come to mind...

Prayers 

Crosses 

Burned at the stake - fire 

Armour, metal, grey

Martyr 

So thinking about the visual imagery I could create photos  - creating a photo using symbolic imagery such as crosses and fire

Using perhaps Rosary beads - here is a test shot I took whilst thinking about this work

Settings F1.9,  Shutter Speed 1/50, ISO 80, WB Auto - no flash 

This was a quick test shot on my phone I will look at other options and will use my camera to take final images.  

These are just some initial thoughts!

References

Encyclopedia Britannica. 2021. Joan of Arc | Biography, Death, Accomplishments, & Facts. [online] Available at: <https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saint-Joan-of-Arc> [Accessed 5 October 2021].

 Cohen, J., 2021. 7 Surprising Facts About Joan of Arc. [online] HISTORY. Available at: https://www.history.com/news/7-surprising-facts-about-joan-of-arc [Accessed 5 October 2021].

Welcome to a New Term!

 Welcome to a new term!  Here we are again mostly in real life!  An element of freedom returned..

I have been reading Colin Wilson as I found a fairly new book on his works by Colin Stanley.  Colin Wilson died in 2013 at the age of 82, his first book The Outsider, Ezard writes in his obituary 'The Outsider (1956), led him to be seen as a potential saviour of the human spirit, a thinker who might find a way through the spiritual nullity of the postwar years' (Ezard, 2013) Wilson wrote while camping out on Hampstead Heath and writing in the British Library in London each day.  Wilson went on to write books about mysticism, the occult, consciousness, existentialism.  I was lucky enough to see Colin Wilson in the flesh at the Occultique festival in Brighton in the early 2000s.  I was surrounded by all the witches in Sussex and Wilson was one of the most charismatic people I have ever had the privilege to watch.  

Colin Wilson in 1957

At present, I am reading about Peak Experiences which began when Wilson was looking at Maslow, who wanted to treat healthy people as in healthy people Maslow stated; 'I picked out the healthiest people, the best specimens of mankind I could find, and studied them to see what they were like. They were very different, in some ways startlingly different from the average..'(Ed.Stanley, 2019:54) he realised that they had more joy and had what he called 'peak experiences'  These experiences were' something like a mystical experience, moments of great awe, moments of the most intense happiness, or even rapture, ecstasy or bliss...' (Ed. Stanley, 2019:55)

Maslow discovered once they had these experiences they would have more and afforded the person experiencing this, a moment of clarity where they could see everything clearly.  This is one of the things Wilson writes about in great depth and I chose this to talk about as I spend much of my time with people now who are not healthy and I have found this has the effect of experiencing more negative emotions.  This book reminds me of better times past, present and future are possible that a healthy mind really can bring that sense of awe and wonder back into life....

References 

Ezard, J., 2013. Colin Wilson obituary. [online] the Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/dec/09/colin-wilson [Accessed 5 October 2021].

Ed. Stanley C. (2019) The Ultimate Colin Wilson: Writings on Mysticism,, Consciousness and Existentialism. Watkins Media ltd, London.

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