The Turmoil of Conflict (Joan of Arc series: IV) – (Louis-Maurice Boutet De Monvel) ◄ Previous Next ►

Artist: Louis-Maurice Boutet De Monvel

Date: 1913

Size: 99 x 197 cm

Technique: Oil On Canvas

This horizontal painting is tightly packed with colorfully dressed groups of soldiers and knights on horseback surging toward each other. The scene is created with small areas of vivid, mostly flat color, almost like a collage. Long lances and spears create a forest of diagonals among the battling men. The hands and the few faces we can see are painted with pale, peachy skin. The soldiers on the left side wear tunics and leggings in tones of pumpkin orange, sage green, rose pink, ruby red, or azure blue. Most wear pointed, silver helmets with wide brims, and many hold lances as they charge the knights to our right. Near an ash-gray tree in the upper left, a rust-brown horse rears up among the throng, as his rider leans back and pulls on the reins. One person has been lifted off the ground while trying to hold the horse’s bridle. More knights on horseback sweep in from the right wearing silver armor, and riding gray, saffron orange, or brown horses. Several aim carrot-orange lances wrapped with white stripes at the enemy. The horses lunge forward with gaping mouths and wide eyes, their front legs outstretched. A band of knights in the distance in the upper right hold butter-yellow, celery-green, powder-blue, and white pennants that snap in the wind. The blue sky above the battle is scattered with white clouds on the right that transition to darker, tan clouds on the left. The artist signed the lower left corner, “M. Boutet de Monvel.”