Robert Bénard (1734 in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

– 1794) was a French engraver. Specialized in the technique of engraving, Robert Bénard is mainly famous for having supplied a significant amount of plates (at least 1,800) to the ''

Encyclopédie , better known as ''Encyclopédie'' (), was a general encyclopedia published in France between 1751 and 1772, with later supplements, revised editions, and translations. It had many writers, known as the Encyclopédistes. It was edited by Denis ...

'' by Diderot & d'Alembert from 1751. Later, publisher Charles-Joseph Panckoucke reused many of his productions to illustrate the works of his catalog. Biographical research established in 2019 that his real name was Jacques Renaud Benard, that he was born in 1731 at

Rosny-sous-Bois Rosny-sous-Bois () is a Communes of France, commune in the eastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the Kilometre Zero, centre of Paris. It is the seat of the national centre of road information of the national French Gendarmerie, g ...

, and that he died in Paris in 1794. Françoise Launay, « Le graveur Jacques Renaud Benard (1731-1794) : un collaborateur majeur de l’Encyclopédie enfin identifié », in: ''Recherches sur Diderot et sur l'Encyclopédie'', 54 , 2019 « Diderot et l'argent », �
extrait en ligne sur ''OpenEdition''
The signature "Benard fecit" on plates probably indicates the work of his own hand; the signatures "Benard Direx" and "Benard Direxit" indicate the work of the atelier of engravers he directed for many years.

References

External links

Robert Bénard
on data.bnf.fr
Robert Bénard
at th
National Portrait Gallery
* M. Pinault-Sørensen, F. A. Kafker, ''Notices sur les collaborateurs du recueil de planches de l'Encyclopédie'', ', 1995, n° 18-19, p
204
{{DEFAULTSORT:Benard, Robert 18th-century French engravers Engravers from Paris 1734 births 1794 deaths Contributors to the Encyclopédie (1751–1772)