Personalities Audran, Benoît (I or the Elder)

Engraver. The second son of the engraver Germain Audran (1631-1710). He studied with his father, then in Paris, with his uncle, Gerard Audran. He engraved many plates with historical subjects and portraits. In 1709, he was admitted to the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture (for engraving portraits of Jean-Baptiste Colbert after the original of C. Lefèbvre and "Exaltation of the Cross" after the original by C. Le Brun). In 1714, by royal permission, he moved to the Luxembourg Palace. In 1715, he became an advisor to the Academy and received the title of king's engraver with a pension of 100 livres.