These five stained-glass windows form the northern aisle sequence of the ten-window cycle devoted to the Life of Joan of Arc, designed by Jacques Galland and executed by Esprit Gibelin for the Cathedral of Sainte-Croix at Orléans. Installed between 1893 and 1895, they recount Joan’s early vocation and first military triumphs, culminating in the liberation of Orléans in May 1429. The series exemplifies the clarity, narrative rhythm, and luminous craftsmanship that defined the Galland–Gibelin collaboration.

The opening panel shows Joan’s first vision at Domrémy in 1424. The twelve-year-old shepherdess stands among the fields of her native village as St Michael, St Catherine, and St Margaret of Antioch appear, summoning her to deliver France from English occupation. In Galland’s composition, the saints gestures are gentle yet commanding, while the young girl’s face conveys awe and obedience. The glass glows with transparent greens and golds, evoking the pastoral innocence of the setting.

The second window portrays Joan’s meeting with Robert de Baudricourt, the commander of the garrison at Vaucouleurs, in February 1429. The sixteen-year-old visionary prophesies the French defeat at the Battle of the Herrings, a prediction soon fulfilled and which persuades Baudricourt to grant her an escort to the Dauphin’s court at Chinon. Galland sets the scene within a fortified hall, its stonework and armour rendered in cool greys and silvers, contrasting with the youthful brightness of Joan’s figure.

In the third window Joan stands before Charles, Dauphin of France, in the great hall at Chinon. Her bearing is composed yet fervent, her right hand raised as she addresses the prince: “Gentil roy, Dieu m’envoie vous secourir.” The richly patterned floor and canopy recall the decorative refinement of late medieval painting, while Gibelin’s subtle enamel shading lends warmth to the flesh tones and white armour. The scene represents the moment when divine mission and royal legitimacy first converge.

The fourth window celebrates Joan’s triumphal entry into the besieged city of Orléans, her banner unfurled as she rides through cheering crowds. Galland’s design conveys the momentum of processional movement—horses advancing diagonally through an architectural frame of turrets and banners, townsfolk leaning from windows in jubilation. The warm, transparent palette of red and gold evokes dawn light, the symbol of deliverance.

The final window of the north aisle depicts the climactic Battle of Les Tourelles, the fortified gateway at the southern bridgehead across the Loire. Struck by an arrow, Joan briefly withdraws, then returns to rally the troops with the words, “Tout est vostre et y entrez.” As her standard touches the rampart, the French forces breach the walls. The composition is animated by diagonal lines of movement and a dynamic play of colour—scarlet, steel, and flame—culminating in a burst of golden light at the top of the frame.

Across these five windows, Galland’s academic draughtsmanship and Gibelin’s technical mastery achieve a harmony of narrative legibility and luminous grandeur. Each panel is executed with meticulous painting and fired enamel, the light modulated through alternating fields of rich pot-metal colour and clear grisaille. The cycle’s progression from rustic vision to victorious revelation embodies the transformation of an obscure peasant girl into the divinely inspired saviour of France.

Together, the north-aisle windows form a coherent meditation on vocation and courage, rendered with the precision and dignity characteristic of late-nineteenth-century French ecclesiastical art. In their unity of design and craftsmanship, they affirm the creative partnership of Jacques Galland, the storyteller in line and form, and Esprit Gibelin, the interpreter of that vision in light.