Joan of Arc, a national hero of
France following the
Hundred Years' War, became an increasingly important figure in the French cultural scene during the 1870s and 1880s, following the country's defeat in the
Franco-Prussian War. That conflict had seen
Prussia annex the eastern part of
Lorraine, the region both Joan of Arc and Bastien-Lepage were born in. Bastien-Lepage completed the painting in 1879, and after being exhibited at the
Salon in 1880, it was purchased by American businessman Erwin Davis. ==Description==