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.
Portrait of a young girl, Private collection (US).
References
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.
^"Paris, July 30". English Chronicle and Whitehall Evening Post. 3 August 1824. p. 4 – via British Newspaper Archive.