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Louis Joseph César Ducornet

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Self-portrait (1852)

Louis Joseph César Ducornet (10 January 1806, Lille – 27 April 1856, Paris) was a French painter who painted with his foot.[1] He is known primarily for biblical and historical scenes, as well as portraits.

Biography

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Ducornet was born to poor parents in Lille on January 10, 1806.[2] His father, Alexandre, was a shoemaker.[3] He had a birth defect, now known as phocomelia. Having neither arms nor thighs, and only four toes to his right foot, he was unable to walk and had to be carried by his father. However, while still a child, he would pick up pieces of coal from the floor with his toes and draw rough sketches on the wall. The natural talent he exhibited led to his receiving some art instruction.[4]

With the help of the municipality of Lille, he was sent to Paris in 1824,[5] where he studied under Guillaume Guillon-Lethière,[6] François Louis Joseph Watteau and François Gérard. During the reign of King Louis XVIII he was awarded an annual pension, in the amount of 1,200 Francs, which was continued by King Charles X.[6]

Although his disability prevented him from entering the competition for the Prix de Rome, he was awarded several medals at the Salon. He also participated in the Brussels Salon of 1836 and even took an occasional student; notably Auguste Allongé. He painted an eleven feet high depiction of Mary Magdalene at the feet of Jesus after the resurrection that was purchased by the French government. The critic Maxime Du Camp was of the opinion that "his paintings painted with the feet were hardly worse than many paintings painted with the hand".[7]

From 1845, he had a studio on the Rue Visconti [fr], where he died in 1856, aged 50.[8]

Works

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Among his notable paintings are:

Selected paintings

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References

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  • Public Domain This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Bryan, Michael (1886). "Ducornet, Louis César Joseph". In Graves, Robert Edmund (ed.). Bryan's Dictionary of Painters and Engravers (A–K). Vol. I (3rd ed.). London: George Bell & Sons.
  1. ^ "Paris, July 30". English Chronicle and Whitehall Evening Post. 3 August 1824. p. 4 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  2. ^ Ripley, George; Dana, Charles. A, eds. (1874). The American Cyclopaedia: A Popular Dictionary of General Knowledge, Volume VI. New York: D. Appleton And Company. p. 292. Retrieved 10 January 2024 – via Google Books.
  3. ^ "Alexandre Amand Joseph Ducornée Mentioned in the Record of Louis Cesar Joseph Ducornée , in France, Nord, Parish and Civil Registration, 1524-1893: Lille. Birth Records 1805–1806, image 494,". 11 January 2024. Retrieved 11 January 2024 – via FamilySearch.
  4. ^ Ottley, Henry; Bryan, Michael, eds. (1875). A Biographical And Critical Dictionary Of Recent And Living Painters And Engravers. Piccadilly: Chatto & Windus. p. 56. Retrieved 10 January 2024 – via Google Books.
  5. ^ "Paris, Oct.22". Morning Herald. 26 October 1824. p. 2 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  6. ^ a b Walford, Edward (1857). Hardwicke's Annual Biography For 1857. London: Robert Hardwicke. p. 179. Retrieved 10 January 2024 – via Google Books.
  7. ^ Maxime Du Camp, "Souvenirs littéraires", Hachette (1906) pg.253 [https:/ /gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k6575237m/f271.item Online]
  8. ^ "Died". Glasgow Courier. 6 May 1856. p. 3 – via British Newspaper Archive.

Further reading

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  • Jean-Pierre Blin, "Louis-César-Joseph Ducornet, peintre né sans bras (1806-1856)", in: Histoire et archéologie du Pas-de-Calais, Vol.XV, 1997, p. 245-264.
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Media related to Louis Joseph César Ducornet at Wikimedia Commons


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