Jeanne d'Arc is no more fortunate here than elsewhere; it seems as if she were an impossibility in art. When one contemplates the number of painters, sculptors, poets, and musicians who have essayed her history and sung her praises, one is appalled by the results. One of the most sublime pages of history; the finest character among heroines; the grandest of women, of patriots, and of dreamers; the most modest, the most saint-like, the most unselfish of warriors, _la Pucelle_ seems to oppress everyone who tries to depict any scene from her life. Perhaps the greatest success of modern times is Frémiet's fine Renaissance statue in the Place des Pyramids. Very beautiful also is Bastien-Lepage's _Jeanne_ as a whole; but the figure does not possess the nobleness which one attaches to the militant maiden. Certainly M. Lenepveu's compositions form no exception to the general failure of Jeannes d'Arc. The maid is tied to the stake surrounded by a goodly assemblage of faggots; one monk reads, another flings a cross into her hands--as if the poor maid had objected to the cross! Soldiers are all about, and old Rouen at the back is picturesque with its gabled houses, and the cathedral in the distance. A man is just seizing a torch, and you know the end is near; but you are not impressed; you either do not care, or you do not realise the horror. But it is popular with the populace, and so serves one purpose for which it was painted--that of pointing a moral of patriotism and unselfish devotion almost unique but for the recent example of Garibaldi. Last, but not least, charming in design, refined, and quite in harmony with the style of the building, are the mosaics of A. E. Hébert, which are among the best works of the artist, and quite exempt from the affectation and sentimentality which, somewhat too often, mar his pictures. These compositions occupy the apse. In the centre _Le Christ montre à l'ange de la France les grandes destinées du peuple dont il lui confia la garde_. Below this are the words: _Christus vincit, Christus regnat, Christus imperat._ At the side of the Saviour is the Blessed Virgin interceding for France; near her, the patroness, clad as a shepherdess, with a lamb under her arm, is praying for the city under the symbol of a ship. Above are the following subjects, _The baptism of Clovis by S. Remi in the presence of S. Clotilde_; _S. Louis seated between Justice and Power_; _Jeanne d'Arc listening to the voices_. [Illustration: LA JEUNESSE DE SAINTE-GENEVIÈVE, PUVIS DE CHAVANNES.]