Equestrian statue of Joan of Arc, Bronze equestrian monument in Place du Martroi, Orléans, France.
The equestrian statue of Joan of Arc is a bronze work by Denis Foyatier, cast in 1855 from the bronze of nine cannons. Joan sits astride a horse with its left foreleg raised, holding a sword pointing forward; the green-oxidized bronze rests on a granite pedestal with a projecting top ledge. The pedestal's front bears the gold inscription "A JEANNE D'ARC / LA VILLE D'ORLEANS / AVEC LE CONCOURS", and a recessed bronze relief panel shows many small figures.
Cast in 1855 from the bronze of nine cannons, the statue by Denis Foyatier replaced an earlier, more modest work by Edme-François-Étienne Gois that was judged too restrained for the national heroine. It was inaugurated on 8 May during the Fêtes Johanniques. A dispute between Foyatier and the city over the pedestal reliefs ended with their entrusting to Vital Gabriel Dubray in 1859, completed in 1861.
The statue is unveiled on 8 May during Orléans' Fêtes Johanniques, the annual Joan of Arc festival, and the date ties the monument to the city's yearly commemoration. The ten bronze reliefs on the pedestal, made by Vital Gabriel Dubray between 1859 and 1861, show scenes from Joan's life and the liberation of Orléans.
The statue stands in the middle of Place du Martroi, a public square in central Orléans. The monument is inscribed as a historic monument, and its base is surrounded by steps. The original bronze reliefs on the pedestal were removed in 1988 and replaced by resin casts; the originals are kept at the Musée des Beaux-Arts.
The pedestal's ten bronze reliefs, made by Vital Gabriel Dubray between 1859 and 1861, were removed in 1988 and taken to the Musée des Beaux-Arts d'Orléans; resin casts now stand in their place. The statue itself was cast from the bronze of nine cannons.
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