THERE is no authentic1 picture of Jeanne. From her we know that at Arras she saw in the hands of a Scotsman a picture in which she was represented on her knees presenting a letter to her King. From her we know also that she never caused to be made either image or painting of herself, and that she was not aware of the existence of any such image or painting. The portrait painted by the Scotsman, which was doubtless very small, is unfortunately lost and no copy of it is known.[1170] The slight pen-and-ink figure, drawn2 on a register of May 10, 1429, by a clerk of the Parlement of Paris, who had never seen the Maid, must be regarded as the mere3 scribbling4 of a scribe who was incapable5 of even designing a good initial letter.[1171] I shall not attempt to reconstruct the iconography of the Maid.[1172] The bronze equestrian6 statue in the Cluny Museum produces a grotesque7 effect that one is tempted8 to believe deliberate, if one may ascribe such an intention to an old sculptor9. It dates from the reign10 of Charles VIII. It is a Saint George or a Saint Maurice, which, at a time doubtless quite recent, was taken to represent the Maid. Between the legs of the miserable11 jade12, on which the figure is mounted, was engraved13 the inscription14: La pucelle[Pg ii.421] dorlians, a description which would not have been employed in the fifteenth century.[1173] About 1875, the Cluny Museum exhibited another statuette, slightly larger, in painted wood, which was also believed to be fifteenth century, and to represent Jeanne d'Arc. It was relegated15 to the store-room, when it turned out to be a bad seventeenth-century Saint Maurice from a church at Montargis.[1174] Any saint in armour16 is frequently described as a Jeanne d'Arc. This is what happened to a small fifteenth-century head wearing a helmet, found buried in the ground at Orléans, broken off from a statue and still bearing traces of painting: a work in good style and with a charming expression.[1175] I have not patience to relate how many initial letters of antiphonaries and sixteenth-, seventeenth- and even eighteenth-century miniatures have been touched up or repainted and passed off as true and ancient representations of Jeanne. Many of them I have had the opportunity of seeing.[1176] On the other hand, if they were not so well known, it would give me pleasure to recall certain manuscripts of the fifteenth century, which, like Le Champion des Dames17 and Les Vigiles de Charles VII, contain miniatures in which the Maid is portrayed18 according to the fancy of the illuminator19. Such pictures are interesting because they reveal her as she was imagined by those who lived during her lifetime or shortly afterwards. It is not their merit that appeals to us; they possess none; and in no way do they suggest Jean Foucquet.[1177]
[Pg ii.422]
While the Maid lived, and especially while she was in captivity20, the French hung her picture in churches.[1178] In the Museum of Versailles there is a little painting on wood which is said to be one of those votive pictures. It represents the Virgin21 with the Child Jesus, having Saint Michael on her right and Jeanne d'Arc on her left.[1179] It is of Italian workmanship and very roughly executed. Jeanne's head, which has disappeared beneath the blows of some hard-pointed instrument, must have been execrably drawn, if we may judge from the others remaining on this panel. All four figures are represented with a scrolled22 and beaded nimbus, which would have certainly been condemned23 by the clerics of Paris and Rouen. And indeed others less strict might accuse the painter of idolatry when he exalted24 to the left hand of the Virgin, to be equal with the Prince of Heavenly Hosts, a mere creature of the Church Militant25.
Standing26, her head, neck, and shoulders covered with a kind of furred hood27 and tippet fringed with black, her gauntlets and shoes of mail, girt above her red tunic28 with a belt of gold, Jeanne may be recognised by her name inscribed29 over her head, and also by the white banner, embroidered30 with fleurs-de-lis, which she raises in her right hand, and by her silver shield, embossed in the German style; on the shield is a sword bearing on its point a crown. A three-lined inscription in French is on the steps of the throne, whereon sits the Virgin Mary. Although the inscription is three parts effaced31 and almost unintelligible32, with the aid of my learned friend, M. Pierre de Nolhac, Director of the Museum of Versailles, I have succeeded in deciphering a few words. These would convey the idea that the inscription consisted of prayers and wishes for the salvation33 of Jeanne, who had fallen into the hands of the enemy. It would appear therefore that we have here one of those ex voto hung in the churches of France during the captivity of the Maid. In such a case the nimbus round[Pg ii.423] the head of a living person and the isolated34 position of Jeanne would be easily explained; it is possible that certain excellent Frenchmen, thinking no evil, adapted to their own use some picture which originally represented the Virgin between two personages of the Church Triumphant35. By a few touches they transformed one of these personages into the Maid of God. In so small a panel they could find no place more suitable to her mortal state, none like those generally occupied at the feet of the Virgin and saints by the kneeling donors36 of pictures. This too might explain perhaps why Saint Michael, the Virgin and the Maid have their names inscribed above them. Over the head of the Maid we read ane darc. This form Darc may have been used in 1430.[1180] In the inscription on the steps of the throne I discern Jehane dArc, with a small d and a capital A for dArc, which is very curious. This causes me to doubt the genuineness of the inscription.
The bestion tapestry[1181] in the Orléans Museum,[1182] which represents Jeanne's arrival before the King at Chinon, is of German fifteenth-century workmanship. Coarse of tissue, barbarous in design, and monotonous37 in colour, it evinces a certain taste for sumptuous38 adornment39 but also an absolute disregard for literal truth.
Another German work was exhibited at Ratisbonne in 1429. It represented the Maid fighting in France. But this painting is lost.
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1
authentic
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| a.真的，真正的；可靠的，可信的，有根据的 | |
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drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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3
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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4
scribbling
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| n.乱涂[写]胡[乱]写的文章[作品]v.潦草的书写( scribble的现在分词 )；乱画；草草地写；匆匆记下 | |
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incapable
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| adj.无能力的，不能做某事的 | |
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equestrian
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| adj.骑马的；n.马术 | |
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7
grotesque
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| adj.怪诞的，丑陋的；n.怪诞的图案，怪人（物） | |
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tempted
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| v.怂恿（某人）干不正当的事；冒…的险（tempt的过去分词） | |
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sculptor
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| n.雕刻家，雕刻家 | |
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reign
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| n.统治时期，统治，支配，盛行；v.占优势 | |
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miserable
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| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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jade
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| n.玉石；碧玉；翡翠 | |
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13
engraved
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| v.在（硬物）上雕刻（字，画等）( engrave的过去式和过去分词 )；将某事物深深印在（记忆或头脑中） | |
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inscription
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| n.（尤指石块上的）刻印文字，铭文，碑文 | |
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15
relegated
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| v.使降级( relegate的过去式和过去分词 )；使降职；转移；把…归类 | |
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armour
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| （=armor）n.盔甲；装甲部队 | |
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dames
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| n.（在英国）夫人（一种封号），夫人（爵士妻子的称号）( dame的名词复数 )；女人 | |
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portrayed
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| v.画像( portray的过去式和过去分词 )；描述；描绘；描画 | |
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illuminator
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| n.照明者 | |
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captivity
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| n.囚禁；被俘；束缚 | |
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virgin
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| n.处女，未婚女子；adj.未经使用的；未经开发的 | |
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scrolled
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| adj.具有涡卷装饰的v.（电脑屏幕上）从上到下移动（资料等），卷页( scroll的过去式和过去分词 )；（似卷轴般）卷起；（像展开卷轴般地）将文字显示于屏幕 | |
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condemned
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| adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词 | |
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exalted
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| adj.(地位等)高的，崇高的；尊贵的，高尚的 | |
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militant
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| adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士 | |
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standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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hood
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| n.头巾，兜帽，覆盖；v.罩上，以头巾覆盖 | |
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28
tunic
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| n.束腰外衣 | |
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29
inscribed
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| v.写，刻( inscribe的过去式和过去分词 )；内接 | |
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embroidered
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| adj．绣花的 | |
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effaced
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| v.擦掉( efface的过去式和过去分词 )；抹去；超越；使黯然失色 | |
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32
unintelligible
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| adj.无法了解的，难解的，莫明其妙的 | |
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33
salvation
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| n.（尤指基督）救世，超度，拯救，解困 | |
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isolated
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| adj.与世隔绝的 | |
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triumphant
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| adj.胜利的，成功的；狂欢的，喜悦的 | |
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36
donors
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| n.捐赠者( donor的名词复数 )；献血者；捐血者；器官捐献者 | |
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37
monotonous
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| adj.单调的，一成不变的，使人厌倦的 | |
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38
sumptuous
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| adj.豪华的，奢侈的，华丽的 | |
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39
adornment
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| n.装饰；装饰品 | |
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