Self-portrait of Louis Joseph Cesar Ducornet, 1852

Louis Joseph César Ducornet (January 10, 1806 in Lille – April 27, 1856 in 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

Ducornet was born to poor parents in Lille on January 10, 1806.[2] Ducornet's 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 used to pick up pieces of charcoal from the floor with his toes and the rough sketches he thus made evinced so much promise that he received local instruction in art.[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 Charles X he received an annual pension of 1,200 francs.[6] Although his disability prevented him from entering the competition for the Prix de Rome, he was awarded several medals at the Salon. He 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.

He died in Paris in 1856 aged 50.[7]

Works

Among his notable paintings are:

  • Repentance. 1828.
  • The Parting of Hector and Andromaque. (Lille Museum.)
  • St. Louis administering Justice. (Lille Museum.)
  • Death of Mary Magdalen. 1840. (Église Saint-André de Lille)
  • The Repose in Egypt. 1841.
  • Christ in the Sepulchre. 1843.
  • Edith finding the body of Harold. 1855.

References

  • 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. 1 2 Walford, Edward (1857). Hardwicke's Annual Biography For 1857. London: Robert Hardwicke. p. 179. Retrieved 10 January 2024 – via Google Books.
  7. ↑ "Died". Glasgow Courier. 6 May 1856. p. 3 – via British Newspaper Archive.

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