Jeanne au bûcher by Maxime Real del Sarte, Stone sculpture at Place du Vieux-Marché, Rouen, France.
Jeanne au bûcher is a light-beige stone statue by Maxime Real del Sarte, made with Roger de Villiers in 1927, set against a flat slab of the same pale stone at Place du Vieux-Marché beside the Church of Sainte-Jeanne-d'Arc. The standing woman has a carved halo of radiating lines, her head tilted back and to her left with eyes closed, hands clasped at her chest with cuffs at both wrists. Her long robe falls in deep folds to the base, where green plants with small white flowers grow in front.
The sculptor Maxime Real del Sarte completed this work in 1927, earning a silver medal at the Salon des artistes français before its placement in Rouen. The creation occurred during a period when Joan of Arc was gaining renewed prominence as a national symbol.
The statue stands where Joan of Arc was burned at the stake in 1431, on the Place du Vieux-Marché, and it is here that Rouen's annual Joan of Arc festival procession passes. The figure's clasped hands and tilted head mark the moment before death, and the sculptor Maxime Real del Sarte gave the work to the city in 1927.
The sculpture stands outside the church and can be visited free of charge throughout the year without any entrance requirements. The location is central and easily accessible on foot, making it convenient to see while exploring the city.
Only two replicas exist, cast in Buenos Aires in 1949 and Montreal in 1951; a plaster cast is kept in the church of Saint-Denis at Wissous (Essonne), and another version stands in the church of La Madeleine at Verneuil-sur-Avre (Eure), inscribed to Saint Joan of Arc by a grateful parish, 15 June 1940 - 22 August 1944.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 94,663 contributors worldwide.
