Adèle Romany

Training under Jean-Baptiste Regnault is recorded. The recorded working language is French. Subjects and genres recorded for the work are portrait. Places of work recorded in the authority are Paris. Work by Adèle Romany is recorded in the collections of Palais des Beaux-Arts de Lille, Museum of Fine Arts Boston, Musée des Beaux-Arts de Rouen, Palace of Versailles and Musée Magnin.

• Name — Adèle Romany • Other Names — * Adèle Romanée • Adèle de Romance • Birth Name — Jeanne Marie Mercier • Born — 7 December 1769 • Place of death — Paris, France • Known for — Painting

Adèle de Romance, born Jeanne Marie Mercier in Paris in 1769, was the illegitimate child of Jeanne-Marie Bernardine Mercier. On March 18, 1778, when she was 8 years old, she was recognized and legitimized by her father, Godefroy V, Marquis de Romance, brother of the writer and soldier Germain-Hyacinthe de Romance. From this point she used the name Adèle de Romance. Romany was a pupil of Jean-Baptiste Regnault and is known for miniatures and portraits, especially those of people involved in performing arts. In 1790, she married the miniature painter François Antoine Romany (they later divorced). Over the course of forty years, she exhibited 80 of her works in the Paris Salon. When she exhibited, she used several variations of her maiden and married names, including Romance, Romany, Romanée, Romany de Romance, and de Romance Romany. In 1808, she won a gold medal of the jury. Among her most admired works are her self-portrait with her children (1800), the portrait of Mlle A. P., exhibited at the Salon of 1806, and the portraits of the actresses Mlle Raucourt (Salons of 1812 and 1814) and Mlle Emilie Leverd (Salons of 1808 and 1814). Her many portraits of actors, actresses, and musicians, is the reason that the largest collection of her works is at the Comédie-Française. She had three children and died in Paris, aged 76. Alongside her artistic activities, Adèle de Romance engaged in various financial speculations during the Revolution, the Directory, and the Consulate. She purchased a house and used the mortgage as collateral for loans; she apparently used these funds to finance other ventures. At her death on June 7, 1846, in Paris, her assets totaled over 8,000 francs. She is buried in the Père-Lachaise Cemetery (14th division). Adèle de Romance received little critical attention after her death before her recent rediscovery. A retrospective exhibition is dedicated to the work of Adèle de Romance at the Jean-Honoré-Fragonard Museum in Grasse, organized by curator Carole Blumenfeld, from June 14 to October 12, 2025.

• Illustration — Portrait of Auguste Vestris • Illustration — Portrait of Amélie-Justine and Charles-Édouard Pontois, 1800 • Illustration — A young person hesitating to play the piano in front of her family, also known as Portrait of the Artist's Family in Front of the Chateau de Juily, Ile-de-France • Illustration — Portrait of Michael Kelly

Adèle Romany was recorded at birth as Marie-Jeanne Mercier. The authorities additionally record the headings Marie Jeanne Romany, Jeanne Marie Mercier, Madame Romanée, Adele Romany and Marie Jeanne Romance. Her recorded language was French. One child is recorded: Louise-Lucie Cosnefroy de Saint-Ange.

Adèle Romany is classed in the genre portrait painting. Recorded with the occupation painter. Recorded as a citizen of France.