The Collaborative International Dictionary
Pucelle \Pu*celle"\, n. [F., fr. LL. pulicella, fr. L. pullus a young animal. See Pullet.] A maid; a virgin. [Written also pucel.] [Obs.]
Lady or pucelle, that wears mask or fan.
--B. Jonson.
La Pucelle, the Maid of Orleans, Joan of Arc.
Wikipedia
La Pucelle may refer to:
- Gerard la Pucelle (circa 1117-1184), Roman Catholic bishop
- La Pucelle (saint) (circa 1412-1431), a.k.a. Joan of Arc, virgin saint and national heroine of France
- La Pucelle (ship), a fictional ship from Bernard Cornwell's novel Sharpe's Trafalgar
- La Pucelle: Tactics, a tactical role-playing game
- La Pucelle (violin), a.k.a. The Virgin, a 1709 violin made by Antonio Stradivari
La Pucelle, also known as The Virgin, is a 1709 violin made by Antonio Stradivari. It was Parisian dealer, luthier and maker Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume who gave the instrument its name. In the mid-19th century, Vuillaume disassembled the instrument for maintenance and observed, to his amazement, that the violin had remained untouched since it left Stradivari's workshop. He exclaimed, "C'est comme une pucelle!" (It's like a virgin.) The name stuck and that has been the violin's name ever since. It was Vuillaume who created the instrument's elegant tailpiece carved with the image of a woman in armor, Joan of Arc, the virgin warrior known as "La Pucelle d'Orléans". Vuillaume also created the instrument's elaborately carved pegs.
According to the celebrated violin expert Charles Beare, La Pucelle is the first example of the instruments forming Stradivari's "Golden Period", the pilot model.
The violin is currently owned by collector, David L. Fulton. He calls it one of his finest items in his collection and considers it one of the finest Stradivari instrument in the U.S. He described La Pucelle as having no cracks, no retouching, no worn-down corners or edges. It was once owned by heiress Huguette Clark, given to her on her 50th birthday in June 1956 by her mother Anna. Clark sold the violin to Fulton in 2001 under a contract that would conceal the identity of the seller for 10 years.
Usage examples of "la pucelle".
He just knew that he and Grace had known happiness on board the ship that had been named by her French builders for Joan of Arc, La Pucelle or the virgin.
Led by her voices, she had cast off her father's name to call herself La Pucelle, the Chaste Maid.
On returning to his lodgings he occupied himself with writing an obscene poem in the style of La Pucelle and then, through a fit of rage resembling a spasm, he plunged headlong into the Revolution.
Hotel de la Pucelle, place Jeanne d'Arc, Rouen, 21st December, 186--.