The Statues of Jeanne d`Arc in The Public Space of a French Town in the Middle of the 19th - the Early 20th Century

This study is about the statues dedicated to Jeanne d`Arc which were established in the middle of XIX - early XX century in France. The aim of the work is to realize the role of monuments of the Second Empire and Third Republic located in public urban space. Also, the study raises the question on image transformation in monumental art of the national heroine, who is associated with the socio-political changes that took place in France during the described period. According to the analysis of a number of monuments the hypothesis of this work was made: not only power structures but also urban French inhabitants are interested in perpetuating the memory of the national heroine. The following hypothesis is confirmed. The image of Jeanne d`Arc in the monumental art of France is becoming very common as a symbol for reinforcing the national unity and memory of the French during the crisis period. Often historical policy is used primarily to legitimize the actions of the existing authorities, and the policy of memory - to build a collective identity, which is called to support this activity.