Joan of Arc, liberator of France

The gilded bronze statue you see before you is the work of the sculptor Emmanuel Fremiet, unveiled here in eighteen seventy-four. It was commissioned by the French government in the wake of the country's crushing defeat in the Franco-Prussian War. At the time, France sought a powerful symbol of national resilience and unity to help heal the public morale. The location is specifically chosen because it sits only a few meters from the spot where Joan of Arc was wounded by an arrow during her attempt to liberate Paris from the English in fourteen twenty-nine.