Saint Joan of Arc statue in lightly hand-painted cold cast bronze. The Veronese Collection is well known for outstanding quality and magnificent craftsmanship. Paolo Veronese has always been appreciated for the chromatic brilliance of his palette, the splendor and sensibility of his brushwork, the aristocratic elegance of his figures, and the magnificence of his spectacle.
On January 6, 1412, Joan of Arc was born to pious parents of the French peasant class, at the obscure village of Domremy, near the province of Lorraine. At a very early age, she heard voices: those of St. Michael, St. Catherine and St. Margaret. Through her unfamiliarity with the technicalities of theology, Joan was trapped into making a few damaging statements. When she refused to retract the assertion that it was the saints of God who had commanded her to do what she had done, she was condemned to death as a heretic, sorceress, and adulteress, and burned at the stake on May 30, 1431. She was nineteen years old. Some thirty years later, she was exonerated of all guilt and she was ultimately canonized in 1920 by Pope Benedict XV, making official what the people had known for centuries. St Joan of Arc is the patron saint of France, prisoners, people ridiculed for their piety, rape victims, and soldiers. Her feast day is May 30.
O God, you have chosen Saint Joan of Arc to defend her country against the invading enemy. Through her intercession, grant that we may work for justice and live in peace. We pray through Jesus Christ, your son, living and reigning with you and the Holy Ghost, one God forever and ever. Amen. (Roman Catholic Missal)
