Portland, OR

This would be like many a sincere but dull war memorial sculptures but for the bright, bright gold surface and marvelous modeling of the shining figure. The effect is arresting when you happen upon this small American park and see Joan of Arc, pennant raised against the sky, radiant and triumphant as she pays homage to the fallen of WWI. The extravagance and foreignness of the sculpture contrasts oddly with the modesty of the little green park.

Joan was erected in 1924. She's a copy of identical statue in Paris, and was brought to Portland by a wealthy doctor as a World War I memorial. She has been vandalized on several occasions by paint-wielding morons, but the city does its best to keep her glittering.