Le huguenot et le miracle de l’Osier sanglant : Une œuvre inédite de Thomas Blanchet dédicacée à Camille de Neufville de Villeroy, iconophile et apôtre de la Contre-Réforme

Résumé 0

The discovery of a painting by Thomas Blanchet illustrating the miracle of Our Lady of the Wicker (Notre Dame de l’Osier) –which occurred in the Dauphiné between 1649 and 1657– and was preparatory for the engraving by Germain Audran dedicated to Camille de Neufville de Villeroy, Archbishop of Lyon and Primate des Gaules, sheds new light on the amplitude of the miraculous manifestations in the region of Lyon in the 17thcentury, and on the devotions to the Holy Sacrament and to the Virgin, encouraged by the action of the Prelate who imposes himself as one of the most zealous apostles of the Counter Reformation. The courtly purpose of this print also offered Blanchet, future painter of the Académie Royale de Peinture and de Sculpture (Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture), the opportunity to distinguish himself with one of the foremost princes of the Church during a period of the reinforcement of royal power. The context of its creation also invites us to recon-sider the first years of Blanchet in Lyon in measure with recent discoveries allowing the reevaluation of the activity of Germain Panthot and of Nicolas Chaperon, the first decorators of the city hall.