30/05/2026
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Today (30 May) is Joan of Arc Day, to commemorate the anniversary of her martyrdom in 1431. To mark the occasion, Collections Curator Penny has brought us into the archive room to give us a closer look at two incredible Joan of Arc ceramics produced by Compton Pottery.
Saint Joan of Arc was a French heroine who led the French army to key victories during the Hundred Years’ War and played a vital role in the coronation of Charles VII of France. Having been tried for heresy in the first half of the fifteenth century, Joan of Arc had somewhat faded into historical obscurity until her story was revived in the later part of the nineteenth century.
While in some ways Joan fitted the Victorian ideals being a romantic and tragic heroine, symbolising national pride. There are also many contradictions in the revived interest in her in the 19th century, the question of whether she was divinely inspired and her gender non-conformity wearing of male armour, leading miliary, are at times disagreed upon or not acknowledged. Artists from the Victorian period and into the early 20th century, turned to Joan for inspiration - paintings and drawings show her both in respite, in soft draped clothes, and ready for battle in armour. This would certainly have been inspired by the cultural interest in her, but also for those artists associated with the arts and crafts movement, consistent with their desire to look to the past to inspire their work.
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