The Crowning at Rheims of the Dauphin (Joan of Arc series: V)

1907

Louis Maurice Boutet de Monvel

Painter, French, 1850 - 1913

A wide hall or church space is filled with throngs of people focused on a young man kneeling in front of a clutch of clergymen in this horizontal painting. The people all have smooth, pale skin. Their clothing is intricately patterned with areas of vivid color, creating a collage-like effect. The ten clergymen stand on a low platform to our left. Most wear yellow and gold-colored vestments and conical, split mitre hats though one wears a scarlet-red robe and brimmed hat. The kneeling young man they face, the Dauphin, is draped in an azure-blue cloak adorned with gold fleur-de-lis and a shawl-length cape of black-speckled white ermine fur. He leans forward over one stockinged foot with his hands pressed together as the front bishop bends to gesture over him. Four men stand closer to us to our right of the Dauphin, their backs to us. A young person with chin-length blond hair kneels behind this group. A sword hangs at one hip and the head tips down, eyes closed. The arm we see is covered in shiny silver armor, and it holds up a blue standard. The fabric of the standard and of the person’s robe is white with gold fleur-de-lis. Another group of men stand to our right, also facing inward toward the Dauphin. Six of them lift their faces, their mouths open as if in song, as they pull swords out of sheaths or hold them overhead. White banners, also with gold fleur-de-lis and a gold cross against a sky-blue clover shape, hang from almost a dozen long, pale-gold horns being played, lifted high in the air, at the back of the group. The two groups of men wear tunics, robes, and stockings in cherry red, rose pink, fawn brown, burnt orange, harvest yellow, violet, or plum purple. Countless swords are also held aloft across the background against peach, celestial blue, pale yellow, and white standards. Ladies in mauve, seafoam green, petal pink, and taupe fill pink balconies in the upper left corner overlooking the scene. White veils flow from their tall, pointed hats. A heather-purple, narrow carpet scattered with flowers creates a runner leading up to the Dauphin and platform over a richly patterned floor beneath. The artist signed and dated the lower right, “M.Boutet de Monvel 1907.”

Media Options

This object’s media is free and in the public domain. Read our full Open Access policy for images.
On View

West Building Ground Floor, Gallery G4


Artwork overview

  • Medium

    oil and gold leaf on canvas

  • Credit Line

    Corcoran Collection (William A. Clark Collection)

  • Dimensions

    overall: 75.57 × 178.44 cm (29 3/4 × 70 1/4 in.)
    framed: 97.79 × 202.25 × 10.16 cm (38 1/2 × 79 5/8 × 4 in.)

  • Accession

    2015.19.38


Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Commissioned by William A. Clark [1839-1925], New York; bequest April 1926 to the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington; acquired 2015 by the National Gallery of Art.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1981

  • The Artist as Illustrator, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, 31 March - 14 June 1981, no catalogue.

2001

  • Antiquities to Impressionism: The William A. Clark Collection, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, 2001-2002, unnumbered catalogue, repro.

2006

  • Joan of Arc, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, 18 November 2006 - 21 January 2007, no. 5, repro.

Bibliography

1925

  • Carroll, Dana H. Catalogue of Objects of Fine Art and Other Properties at the Home of William Andrews Clark, 962 Fifth Avenue. Part I. Unpublished manuscript, n.d. (1925): 22-23, no. E.

Inscriptions

lower right: M.Boutet de Monvel_1907

Wikidata ID

Q46632599


You may be interested in

Loading Results