L'imagination

This painting is one of several studies Ziegler prepared for a mural in the apse of the church of La Madeleine in Paris. The mural depicts the history of Christianity and also celebrates the French monarchy. In similar versions of the same study, Joan of Arc’s figure is more visible, along with the phrase “L’Imagination est la reine du monde" (Imagination is queen of the world), which lends the painting its name. This painting, like the others, presents Joan with a downcast face, a compositional choice that would allow church-goers to meet her gaze from below.