When Joan of Arc Entered History
Prosper Jollois and Charles Pensée, from Domrémy to Orléans

In 1819, archaeologist Prosper Jollois and artist Charles Pensée were called upon to provide an opinion on the restoration of Joan of Arc’s birthplace in Domrémy, which had been acquired by the Department of the Vosges. Upon learning of this, King Louis XVIII sent a delegation to assess the historical significance of the house and designate it as a national site. As soon as they stepped inside, they were overcome by a sense of history: Joan of Arc had just entered the annals of history. The troubadour painter Jean-Antoine Laurent, a native of Domrémy, immortalized this historic moment, when, overcome with emotion, they felt the historical weight of the place. This painting, recently acquired, is being unveiled to the public for the first time.

The house was restored before Jollois was appointed chief engineer of the Loiret department in 1822, where Charles Pensée followed him and would go on to become the great painter and draftsman of medieval and picturesque Orléans. Settled in the city of Joan of Arc, Jollois continued his research and published several pioneering books on Joan of Arc: *A Brief History of the Life and Deeds of Joan of Arc, Nicknamed the Maid of Orléans* and *A Survey of the Monuments Erected in France in Memory of Joan of Arc*…Thanks to these works, Orléans became the center of scholarship on Joan of Arc.