Joan of Arc wore her armor for protection on the battlefield during the Hundred Years War where she fought to protect France from English domination. Talk about ideal beauty in function, objectives, and soul. However, note that in the images above she still has the long wavy hair that is typically attributed to Venus. Maybe to make it clear that she is a female; it is rare to find an image of her without it. Even if Joan has on her helmet, in most paintings, she still has tendrils of hair hanging down on her shoulders. Do you think this was to clearly separate her from Adonis? Or was it so they could make her look "beautiful" despite the armor that masks the breasts and hips that defined women in art in the past? Or dare I say, was this a true representation? Did Joan truly storm into battle this way so her soldiers would know who to follow?
Many of the pictures you have of women being depicted as warriors reminds me of an artist who’s painting depict woman warriors in various poses and situations. In some pictures they are fighting mythical beast such as dragon, and in others they seemed to have tamed the monster they are paired with . Also there is a definite contrast between beauty and ugliness in his art when he pairs the beautiful heroine with a monster. I have never look at his work from perspective before! Its amazing how ones perception of things changes with a little more knowledge.
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