Antoine de Lonhy is a fascinating artist whose rediscovery began in the late 1980s by François Avril and Giovanni Romano, based on an intuition by Charles Sterling. Born from the fusion of three anonymous masters (the Master of the Turin Trinity, the Master of Saint Anne, and the Master of the Saluces Hours), Antoine de Lonhy is today among the most important versatile and itinerant artists of the 15th century, as evidenced by several new discoveries, a monographic publication (F. Elsig, 2018), as well as a monographic exhibition (Susa, Museo Diocesano and Turin, Palazzo Madama, 2021-2022). Known not only as an illuminator but also as a painter and stained-glass artist, Antoine de Lonhy was active between Burgundy (his hometown), Toulouse, Barcelona, in Savoy, and in Piedmont. His activity can be divided into three periods: Burgundian (1446-circa 1453/1454), Languedocian, between Toulouse and Barcelona (no later than 1454-1462), and Savoyard (1462-circa 1490, with activities in Piedmont).

In Burgundy, Antoine de Lonhy’s patrons included Chancellor Nicolas Rolin (for whom he created models for stained glass in 1446), Bishop Jean Germain, and Hugues de Cluny and Pierre de Goux, who were linked to the Burgundian court. Preserved works notably include the Mappemonde spirituelle painted for Jean Germain in 1449 (Lyon, Bibliothèque municipale, P.A. 32), the Book of Hours of Hugues de Cluny (Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, ms. nouv. acq. lat. 3209), and detached miniatures from the Book of Hours of Pierre de Goux (including a recently rediscovered Saint Claudio, private collection). Arriving in Toulouse no later than 1454 (the date inscribed on the wall painting executed by Antoine de Lonhy at the Dalbade), Antoine de Lonhy worked notably for the city’s Capitouls. He produced, among other works, the two superb fragments of a Missal, perhaps commissioned by the Archbishop of Toulouse, Bernard de Rosier (Crucifixion: Prague, Narodni Galerie, K-38660; Majestas Domini: Los Angeles, J. Paul Getty Museum, ms. 69). It is also at this time that the artist illuminated two Books of Hours, one for the use of Toulouse (Toulouse, Bibliothèque d’étude et du patrimoine, ms. 2881) and the other for the use of Rome (Paris, Bibliothèque de l’Arsenal, ms. 1194). Between 1460 and 1462, Antoine de Lonhy is known to have been in Barcelona since the creation of the rose window for Santa Maria del Mar (Coronation of the Virgin) is documented (1460-1461), as is the painting of the Miralles Altarpiece (1461-1462) preserved between Barcelona (MNAC, inv. 5088) and Peralada (Museo del Castillo). Finally, from 1462, Antoine de Lonhy is documented as a resident of Avigliana, in the Duchy of Savoy, and worked between Savoy and Piedmont. It was around 1465 that Yolande of France, who had become Duchess of Savoy, called upon Antoine de Lonhy to complete the manuscript known as the Saluces Hours (London, British Library, Add. 27697). In this manuscript, Antoine de Lonhy seems to demonstrate a knowledge of the paintings of Konrad Witz, suggesting that Antoine de Lonhy may have made a stay in Geneva around 1465 or shortly before, during which he could have observed the panels painted by Konrad Witz for the high altar of Saint-Pierre Cathedral.

The present miniature is part of the illuminator’s final phase of activity, while he was active between Savoy and Piedmont, and was painted around 1470-1475 in Piedmont, most probably in Turin. Stylistically, the illumination is extremely close to the Books of Hours preserved in Baltimore (Walters Art Gallery, ms. W. 206) and New York (Pierpont Morgan Library, ms. M. 57). As in these two manuscripts, the brushstroke is freer and loose, the execution is characterized by an accumulation of very small strokes that model the faces and deepen the folds of the thick draperies. The iconography refers to Konrad Witz’s painting of The Miraculous Draft of Fishes (Geneva, Musée d’art et d’histoire) and particularly aligns well with the same scene that Antoine de Lonhy painted in the Gradual preserved in Detroit (Institute of Fine Arts, ms. F. 1984.6). Above all, the present illumination of The Miraculous Draft of Fishes most certainly comes from the dismembered Book of Hours of which eleven miniatures were glued into an early 15th-century Parisian Breviary sold at Antiquariat Heribert Tenschert in 1989 (see Provenance). Besides the comparable dimensions (our leaf has a very few extra millimeters, which seems to indicate that the eleven other leaves glued into the Parisian Breviary were trimmed to adjust to the Breviary’s size), the paintings are of a striking stylistic uniformity. Furthermore, the state of conservation of these paintings is identical to that of our illumination (one can notably compare the areas slightly marked by humidity), although some of the miniatures added to the Breviary have been retouched, unlike the The Miraculous Draft of Fishes at hand. Our miniature thus constitutes a new addition to the corpus of Antoine de Lonhy and is particularly interesting from the perspective of the relationship between Antoine de Lonhy and Savoy, demonstrating the influence of Konrad Witz. This Miraculous Draft of Fishes is also an important discovery for the history of a lost Book of Hours executed in Piedmont c. 1470-1475 — partially saved through the inclusion of eleven paintings in the Parisian Breviary and through this new miniature.

We thank Prof. Frédéric Elsig and Dr. Alix Buisseret for their expertise.

Sister leaves (all glued in a Parisian Breviary c. 1420):
David
Visitation
Virgin and Child
Crucifixion
Annunciation
Adoration of the Magi
Coronation of the Virgin
Annunciation to the Shepherds
Presentation to the Temple
Saint John on Patmos
Saint Matthew