Amulet, a statuette of Joan of Arc, cast in white metal, in a blue rectangular cardboard box.

Collection type: Object
Description: Amulet, a statuette of Joan of Arc, cast in white metal, in a blue rectangular cardboard box.
Geographical reference: France
Europe > Western Europe > France
Person: Field collector Unknown Collector; PRM source Wellcome Institute; PRM source Wellcome Historical Medical Museum
Date / Period: Date made: Before 1901
Date collected: 1901
Acquisition information: Transferred: 1985
Materials and processes: Material White Metal, Process Cast
Dimensions: Height: max 40 mm, Width: max 14 mm
Object numbers: Accession number: 1985.52.1522 Other numbers: 3116
Research and responses: This object was examined in June 2019 by Mara Gold, Beyond the Binary project researcher, as part of the Beyond the Binary project which ran from 2018 to 2020. The following response was recorded: “Heretic, martyr, witch, feminist, lesbian, cross-dresser, intersex, transgender, asexual, schizophrenic – these are all labels that have been applied to Joan of Arc (c. 1412 – 1431), which may have contributed to Joan losing the infamous heresy trial and ultimately burning at the stake. It was the offence of ‘cross-dressing’ which qualified Joan for the death penalty as it counted as a second offence of heresy. Although we may never know which, if any, of these labels are correct, Joan’s role as an LGBTIQ+ icon is irrefutably fixed.” [OS 19/02/2020]