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Seated on a white horse in a triangle formed by three great tree trunks, Joan urges her men on to battle. A fortified town appears in the distance with vague masses before it, presumably the ranks of the enemy. Joan raises both arms in a gesture of encouragement and, incidentally, of sacrifice. She points to Patay with her right hand and holds a banner inscribed JHESVS in her left. The arms of the Savior on the banner are raised in similar fashion. A ghostly Saint Michael, at the right, extends toward Joan the sword he has drawn from its scabbard. His words in Gothic script appear behind him: ILS SONT TOUS VOTRES (They are all yours). Joan’s words, in rounded Italian script, occupy the lower left corner: EN MON DIEU! IL FAUT COMBATTRE. S’ILS ETAIE[NT] PENDUS AUX NUES NOU[S] LES AURIONS. JE SUIS SURE DE LA VICTOIRE (In God’s name! We must fight. If they were hung from the clouds, we would have them. I am sure of victory). The border is composed of running vines, possibly honeysuckle. The painter’s monogram is in the lower right corner of the picture panel and the shield with fleurs-de-lis in the upper corner. The mark of the République Française and the Gobelins and the date, 1899 – 1901, appear in the lower guard; no weavers’ marks are evident. From Anna Gray Bennett, "Five Centuries of Tapestry: The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco" (San Francisco: Chronicle Books; The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, 1976; repr. 1992): p. 306.