Skip to main content

Primary sourcePhotograph1895

Photograph of Thérèse as Joan of Arc

Céline Martin (Sister Geneviève) · 1895

A photograph of Thérèse of Lisieux dressed as Joan of Arc, taken by her sister Céline for a play Thérèse wrote about the French heroine.

This photograph shows Thérèse herself performing as Joan of Arc in a play she wrote for her community.

Ask Saint Therese about this sourceView the original(opens in new tab)
Black and white photograph of a young woman in a pale armored-style bodice and dark fleur-de-lis-decorated skirt, holding a sword, standing beside a banner pole in front of a brick wall and ivy, with a shield bearing fleurs-de-lis and a wreath at her feet.
Céline Martin (Sister Geneviève), photograph of Thérèse of Lisieux dressed as Joan of Arc, 1895. Archives du Carmel de Lisieux.

About this source

What it is

This photograph was taken in 1895 by Céline Martin, Thérèse's sister who was also a nun at the Carmel of Lisieux, known as Sister Geneviève. It shows Thérèse costumed as Joan of Arc for a play Thérèse had written to be performed by the nuns of her community.

Why it matters

Thérèse admired Joan of Arc and wrote two plays about her, drawing on a history book of Joan given to the convent. This was part of a wider national revival of devotion to Joan of Arc in France at the time. The photograph shows Thérèse actively creating art and drama inside her convent, not only praying quietly, and it connects her personal piety to a popular French saint.

Look closer

  • Why might a cloistered nun choose to write and perform a play about a warrior saint?
  • What does this image add to the picture of Thérèse beyond the usual image of quiet piety?
  • Who took the photograph, and why might that detail matter?

This photograph is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Saint Therese on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

More Saint Therese sources

Meet the AI Saint Therese →
Front cover of a French book titled 'Sainte Thérèse de l'Enfant-Jésus' in ornate Art Nouveau style with floral borders, a star at top, an oval illustration of saints and an angel, a quotation, and Latin motto banners at the bottom.Book

Primary source

The Story of a Soul

Thérèse of Lisieux · 1898

Document

Primary source

Act of Oblation to Merciful Love

Thérèse of Lisieux · 9 June 1895

Black and white photograph of a young woman in a dark religious veil and white collar, with a calm, slight smile, looking toward the camera. Her face fills most of the frame.Photograph

Primary source

Portrait of Thérèse of Lisieux

15 April 1895

Photograph of a book cover with a marbled brown and tan speckled paper binding and a beige cloth spine, with blue flecks. A small library credit in the lower right reads Source gallica.bnf.fr / Bibliothèque nationale de France. The cover appears worn at the edges.Book

Primary source

Histoire d'une âme, first edition (1898)

Thérèse of Lisieux, ed. Pauline Martin (Mother Agnes of Jesus) · 30 September 1898

Black-and-white photograph of a group of nuns in white wimples and dark habits washing laundry at a stone washing trough beside dark water. Several women kneel or lean over the edge, and one in the foreground scrubs cloth.Photograph

Primary source

Nuns in wash days at le carmel

Unknown

Ready when you are

Start chatting with Saint Therese now.

20 messages free · No credit card · Available in 50+ languages.

Trial Humy for freeGet a quote for institutions