Pierre Soubeyran (6 November 1709, Geneva, Republic of Geneva – 12 April 1775, Geneva, Republic of Geneva) was an 18th-century engraver,

etcher Etching is traditionally the process of using strong acid or mordant to cut into the unprotected parts of a metal surface to create a design in intaglio (incised) in the metal. In modern manufacturing, other chemicals may be used on other types ...

and Encyclopédiste, mainly active in Paris.

Biography

Pierre Soubeyran was the son of the locksmith Pierre Soubeyran, a

Huguenot The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a religious group of French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, the Genevan burgomaster Be ...

refugees from Sauve,

Languedoc The Province of Languedoc (; , ; oc, Lengadòc ) is a former province of France. Most of its territory is now contained in the modern-day region of Occitanie in Southern France. Its capital city was Toulouse. It had an area of approximately ...

and his wife Pernette de Bourdeau. He received his first graphic training by Daniel Gardelle (1679-1753) from Geneva, the brother of the painter and engraver

Robert Gardelle Robert Gardelle (1682-1766) was a Swiss artist, engraver and etcher born in Geneva, then in the Republic of Geneva. Gardelle studied under Nicolas de Largillière, Largillière in Paris, where he distinguished himself as a portrait painter, produci ...

. His protectors sent him in Paris to further training in 1730.

Jean-Jacques Burlamaqui Jean-Jacques Burlamaqui (; 24 June or 13 July 1694 – 3 April 1748) was a Genevan legal and political theorist who popularised a number of ideas propounded by other thinkers. Life Born in Geneva, Republic of Geneva, into a Calvinist family (des ...

(1694-1748) encouraged him to train as etcher in Paris, where from 1742 to 1749 he was a member of the French

Academy of Sciences An academy of sciences is a type of learned society or academy (as special scientific institution) dedicated to sciences that may or may not be state funded. Some state funded academies are tuned into national or royal (in case of the Unit ...

. At times, he also received lessons by

Georg Friedrich Schmidt Georg Friedrich Schmidt (24 January 1712, Wandlitz - 25 January 1775, Berlin) was a German engraver, etcher and pastel painter, in the Rococo style. Life and work His parents were cloth makers, and it was originally intended that he would foll ...

. In Paris, he acquired a solid reputation. Soubeyran soon became one of the most qualified engravers of his time. On 14 May 1748, he was appointed as Head of the Public Drawing School in Geneva, ''École de Dessein de Genève'' (later known as École Supérieure des Beaux-Arts, Genève). Soubeyran wrote the articl
"Montre"
for the ''

Encyclopédie ''Encyclopédie, ou dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers'' (English: ''Encyclopedia, or a Systematic Dictionary of the Sciences, Arts, and Crafts''), better known as ''Encyclopédie'', was a general encyclopedia publis ...

'' by

Denis Diderot Denis Diderot (; ; 5 October 171331 July 1784) was a French philosopher, art critic, and writer, best known for serving as co-founder, chief editor, and contributor to the '' Encyclopédie'' along with Jean le Rond d'Alembert. He was a promi ...

and

d’Alembert Jean-Baptiste le Rond d'Alembert (; ; 16 November 1717 – 29 October 1783) was a French mathematician, mechanician, physicist, philosopher, and music theorist. Until 1759 he was, together with Denis Diderot, a co-editor of the ''Encyclopédie ...

. Pierre Soubeyran is often mistaken with his cousin, Jean-Pierre Soubeyran (1708–1774), a miniaturist.

Main works

His primary prints are: * ''la Conversion de saint Bruno'', after Le Sueur * ''la Belle villageoise'', by Boucher * ''Portrait de Pierre le Grand'', after Caravaggio * ''Une jeune fille devant son miroir'', by Natoire * ''Six Paysages'', by Lucas van Uden. * Most boards of the ''Traité des pierres antiques'', by

Mariette Mariette may signify: ;Family name: * Auguste Mariette (1821–1881), pioneering Egyptologist. *Pierre-Jean Mariette (1694–1774), connoisseur and chronicler of artistic life in Paris ;Given name: *Mariette Bosch (died 2001), South African murder ...

, after Bouchardon *

Vignettes Vignette may refer to: * Vignette (entertainment), a sketch in a sketch comedy * Vignette (graphic design), decorative designs in books (originally in the form of leaves and vines) to separate sections or chapters * Vignette (literature), short, i ...

for the

Hall of Mirrors The Hall of Mirrors (french: Grande Galerie, Galerie des Glaces, Galerie de Louis XIV) is a grand Baroque style gallery and one of the most emblematic rooms in the royal Palace of Versailles near Paris, France. The grandiose ensemble of the hal ...

of Versailles, by Massé

Bibliography

* Ferdinand Hoefer: ''Nouvelle Biographie générale.'' t. 44, Firmin-Didot, Paris 1865, (p. 212–213) * Danielle Buyssens: ''La carrière parisienne de Pierre Soubeyran, premier directeur de l'école publique de dessin de Genève.'' In ''Liber veritatis.'' 2007, (pp. 181–189) * Danielle Buyssens: ''La question de l'art à Genève.'' 2008

References

External links

Pierre Soubeyran
on data.bnf.fr
Pierre Soubeyran
on Wikisource {{DEFAULTSORT:Soubeyran, Pierre 18th-century artists from the Republic of Geneva Engravers from the Republic of Geneva 18th-century French engravers Contributors to the Encyclopédie (1751–1772) 1706 births 1775 deaths