- Our first perception of Joan of Arc is distorted, rather than expecting a fair Norman maiden, we have an Oriental Joan that could have been a Native American. Instead we have a concept of Joan that represents feminine virtue, strength and uncompromising faith as an embodiment of a race-less Joan of Arc, filled here with devotion and in a state of surrender only to God. She is a national hero and her steel gray shawl is a testimony to her invincible armor and fearlessness, and her white cuffs to her virgin purity. And ultimately she drapes herself in a black shawl, as she prepares for a fearless death.

Joan of Arc