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The copying of paintings is rarely studied (least of all in the perspective of gender). It first appears as the devalued work of starters, amateurs or failures. However, in the 19th century, this activity is largely practiced by painters (men, but also, for a large part, women) and does not correspond to this idea of the copyist “by default”. This activity is all the more central in career strategies as it is extremely valued by political leaders. Copying remains, for painters of both sexes, a triple resource: a valuable source of revenue, a way to penetrate the world of art and a source of legitimacy among the post prestigious pictural genres. Finally, by comparing the situation of female and male copyists under the Monarchy of July, one realizes that copying is recognized as an original professional activity, surprisingly characterized by a relative gender equality.