AUDRAN, Girard, or Gerard, the most celebrated artist of the whole family of the Audrans, was the third son of Claude Audran mentioned in a preceding article, and born at Lyons in 1640. He learned from his father the first principles of design and engraving; and following the example of his brother, he left Lyons and went to Paris, where his genius soon began to manifest itself. His reputation there brought him to the knowledge of Le Brun, who employed him to engrave the battles of Constantine, and the triumph of that emperor; and for these works he obtained apartments at the Gobelins. At Rome, whither he went for improvement, he is said to have studied under Carlo Maratti, in order to perfect himself in drawing; and in that city, where he resided three years, he engraved several fine plates. M. Colbert, that great encourager of the arts, was so struck with the beauty of Audran's works whilst he resided at Rome, that he persuaded Louis XIV. to recall him. On his return, he applied himself assiduously to engraving; and was appointed engraver to the king, from whom he received great encouragement. In the year 1681 he was named counsellor of the Royal Academy; and died at Paris in 1703. He had been married; but left no male issue behind him.
Strutt's Dictionary. The great excellency of this artist above that of any other engraver was, that though he drew admirably himself, yet he contracted no manner of his own; but transcribed on copper simply, with great truth and spirit, the style of the master whose pictures he copied. On viewing his prints you lose sight of the engraver, and naturally say, it is Le Brun, it is Poussin, it is Mignard, or it is Le Sueur, &c. as you turn to the prints which he engraved from those masters. Let any one examine the battles above-mentioned from Le Brun, the preference of the young Pyrrhus from Nicholas Poussin, the peep from Mignard, and the mar-tyrdom of St Lawrence from Le Sueur, and then judge
Audran. candidly of the truth of this observation. The following judicious observations by the Abbé Fontenai, taken chiefly from M. Bafan, with some small variation and additions, will fully illustrate the merits of Gerard Audran. "This sublime artist, far from conceiving that a servile arrangement of strokes, and the too frequently cold and affected clearness of the graver, were the great essentials of historical engraving, gave worth to his works by a bold mixture of free hatchings and dots, placed together apparently without order, but with an inimitable degree of taste; and has left to posterity most admirable examples of the style in which grand compositions ought to be treated. His greatest works, which have not a very flattering appearance to the ignorant eye, are the admiration of true connoisseurs and persons of fine taste. He acquired the most profound knowledge of the art by the constant attention and study which he bestowed upon the science of design, and the frequent use he made of painting from nature. This great man always knew how to penetrate into the genius of the painter he copied from; often improved upon, and sometimes even surpassed him. Without exception, he was the most celebrated engraver that ever existed in the historical line. We have several subjects which he engraved from his own designs, that manifested as much taste as character and facility. But, in the battles of Alexander, he surpassed even the expectations of Le Brun himself." These consist of three very large prints, lengthwise, each consisting of four plates, which join together, from Le Brun; namely, the passage of the Granicus; the battle of Arbela; Perus brought to Alexander, after his defeat. To this set are added two more large prints lengthwise, on two plates each, also from Le Brun, as follow: Alexander entering the tent of Darius; and The triumphal entry of Alexander into Babylon. The former was engraved by Gerard Edelink, and the latter by Gerard Audran. It is to be remarked of all these plates, that those impressions are generally most esteemed which have the name of Goyton the printer marked upon them. The Peep, from Peter Mignard, a large plate, lengthwise, also deserves particular notice. In the first impressions, the figure in the clouds is Juno with her peacock behind her; in the latter, the peacock is obliterated, and the wings of an angel are added to the figure.