“I like Joan of Arc best of all my books; and it is the best; I know it perfectly well,” Twain recounted. “And besides, it furnished me seven times the pleasure afforded me by any of the others.”

As an illiterate peasant, Joan followed an unlikely path to fame. Late in France’s Hundred Years’ War (1337-1453), she had a vision in which God instructed her to reclaim her homeland from the increasing domination of England. With some effort, she persuaded Charles VII, the uncrowned heir to the French throne, that she should lead his troops in battle.

Titled “Joan of Arc: Medieval Maiden to Modern Saint,” the exhibition opened on May 1 and will remain on view until September 30. It features more than 200 works, including paintings, sculpture, prints, illustrated books, posters, and popular art on loan from more than 20 public and private collections in the United States and France. Its two guest curators, Laura Coyle and Nora Heimann, also presented the Corcoran exhibit. Both have a personal fascination as well as a professional expertise in Joan of Arc.

Ms Coyle, formerly curator of European Art at the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., is now proprietor of an art services company, Curator-At-Large.

Ms Heimann is associate professor and chair of the department of art at Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. She is a leading historian in the iconography of Joan of Arc, and the relationship between art and politics.

Exhibition highlights include a Ringling Brothers poster “Tremendous 1200 character spectacle Joan of Arc,” 1912, lithograph (Library of Congress); a re-creation of early 15th Century armor by Robert MacPherson (Charles Bennett); an Emmanuel Frémiet bronze miniature of Joan of Arc riding into battle (Bryn Mawr College Library); and a Gillot Saint-Evre oil on board, “Joan of Arc Keeling before the Dauphin,” not dated (collection Stair Sainty Matthiesen, Inc).

The Knights of Columbus Museum is at 1 State Street. For information, visit www.kofc.org or call 203-865-0400.