VTLZ3GIV

A moving picture-narrative of the life of Saint Joan, visually lovely in the deliberately flat style of Puvis de Chavannes. The graphic style and the narrative suggest that the intended audience was young adolescents. Boutet created this about a geneation after the Franco-Prussian War, but the title-page illustration drips with the nationalism, even the revanchisme and imperialism, which followed that miserable conflict. The preface, dated April 1896, echoes this. It is worth noting that about a dozen years ago, a "new" children's picture-book on Saint Joan appeared, with flagrant and unacknowledged imitation of Boutet's art. ( )

One of the great picture books of all time. Still stunning and very moving after more than a century. ( )