Lot Essay
Luminais had a long and successful career making his debut at the Salon at the age of twenty-one, and for the rest of his career his Salon entries were regularly purchased by the State and distributed to provincial museums throughout France. One of his greatest honors came in 1889 at the Exposition Universelle when he was awarded the gold medal. Merovingian subject matter, detailing France's early history, was rarely portrayed. The English artist, Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema also had been intrigued by the Merovingians, and his own submission to the Exposition Universelle in 1867 was a masterwork of his early career, The Education of the Children of Clovis (Private Collection).
Our picture is Luminais's 1879 Salon entry. It depicts the start of the Hunt in Gaul during the time of the Merovingians. It is filled with action - trumpets blowing, horses charging and hunting dogs howling and straining to reach the prey that awaits them at the end of the hunt.
Our picture is Luminais's 1879 Salon entry. It depicts the start of the Hunt in Gaul during the time of the Merovingians. It is filled with action - trumpets blowing, horses charging and hunting dogs howling and straining to reach the prey that awaits them at the end of the hunt.