Adèle de Kercado

From at least 1837–1859, de Kercado was active as an artist, primarily producing large-scale copies of religious works for churches and town halls outside of Paris.^{[4][citation needed]}

De Kercado worked primarily as a copyist of Old Master religious paintings, producing large-scale oils for churches, courts, and municipal buildings throughout France.^{[citation needed]} She was most active from the late 1830s through to the 1850s, a time when the French state regularly commissioned artists to reproduce works from the Louvre and other royal collections for provincial institutions.^[5] As with many women working as copyists at this time, her works were disseminated broadly, while her name has remained largely absent from later art-historical narratives.^[6]

Around 1838, de Kercado was commissioned by the French state to copy a religious painting from the Louvre for the town hall of Prémery.^[7] Another state commission followed in 1839, when she painted a copy of Murillo's Penitent Magdalene, then in the Louvre's Spanish Gallery of Louis-Philippe. The painting was purchased directly from the artist and deposited in the town hall of Sauveterre-de-Béarn. In 1908 it was classified as a historic monument.^[8] In about 1844, Louis Philippe, King of France, made a gift of de Kercado's copy of Murillo's Madonna of the Assumption to the Catholic church of Norfolk, Virginia in the United States.^[9]

De Kercado made several reproductions of Philippe de Champaigne's Christ on the Cross, one destined for the church of Notre-Dame d'Auteuil in Paris, and another for the Court of Appeal in Orléans, completed in 1843.^[10][11] De Kercado was also responsible for several versions of a Pietà with Saint Francis and Mary Magdalene, after Carracci. One version was commissioned in 1847 for the church of Marsac-sur-l'Isle in the Dordogne for 800 francs, while others were sent to churches in Navarrenx, Brécey, and Gimel-les-Cascades.^[12][13][14]

An Annunciation after Vasari, signed by the artist, was painted for the Convent of the Visitation in Moulins, and was displayed alongside other devotional paintings.^[15] A further Annunciation, after Guido Reni, which was described by a contemporary travel guide as "full of freshness and grace", was installed in the church of Guémené and was also a gift of the French government.^[16]

Besides earning income from her work as a copyist, she is documented in the archives of the Musées nationaux in the Secours et encouragements aux artistes series, which records financial assistance to working artists. On 1 February 1837, she received a grant of 500 francs.^[17]

In later life, she lived in the Batignolles-Monceau neighbourhood of Paris.^[4] De Kercado died at her home on the rue du Havre on 24 January 1867, at the age of 83.^[1] She is buried in the Cimetière de Montparnasse.^[18]