Charles Audran (1594–1674) was a French engraver.
Life
Charles Audran was the first of the
Audran family who became eminent in the art of
engraving
Engraving is the practice of incising a design on a hard, usually flat surface by cutting grooves into it with a Burin (engraving), burin. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold, steel, or Glass engraving, glass ar ...
. He was born in Paris in 1594. In his boyhood he showed a great disposition for the art. He received some instruction in drawing, and when still young went to Rome to complete his studies. There he produced some plates that were admired. He adopted that species of engraving that is entirely performed with the
graver, and seems to have modeled his style on that of
Cornelis Bloemaert.
On his return to France he lived for some time in
Lyon
Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...
s, but finally settled in Paris, where he died in 1674, aged 80. He marked his prints, which are very numerous, in the early part of his life with a "C-", until his brother
Claude, who also engraved a few plates, marked them with the same letter; he then changed it for K., as the initial of Karl. The following are his principal prints :
Portraits
*''
Henri of Condé, with the Four Cardinal Virtues''; K. Audran, sc.; oval.
*''Andre Laurent, physician to
Henry IV''; oval.
*''
Pierre Séguier''; oval, with ornaments; after
Chauveau.
*An allegorical subject, of two Portraits, with a Genius painting a third Portrait; inscribed on the pallet, unus ex duobus; signed C. Audran, fecit.
Subjects after different masters
*The title for the ''Gallery of the Great Women'', representing Anne of Austria and nineteen other eminent women, with a subject from their life in the background; after
Pietro da Cortona.
*''The Annunciation''; inscribed Spiritus Sanctus, fe.; after
Lodovico Carracci
Ludovico (or Lodovico) Carracci ( , , ; 21 April 1555 – 13 November 1619) was an Italian early-Baroque painter, etcher, and printmaker from Bologna. His works are characterized by a strong mood invoked by broad gestures and flickering lig ...
, incorrectly attributed on the plate to
Annibale; very fine; it is the picture in the
Cathedral at Bologna.
*''The Baptism of Christ''; small oval; after Ann. Carracci; unsigned.
*''St. Francis de Paula''; after
Mellin; marked Carl. Audran, so.
*''The Stoning of Stephen''; after
Palma 'the younger'.
*''The Conception of the Virgin Mary''; after
Stella.
*''The Nativity''; after the same.
*''The Holy Family, with St. Catharine and Angels''; after the same; fine.
*''The Virgin and Infant Jesus, St. John presenting an Apple, and St. Catharine kneeling''; after
Titian
Tiziano Vecellio (; 27 August 1576), Latinized as Titianus, hence known in English as Titian ( ), was an Italian Renaissance painter, the most important artist of Renaissance Venetian painting. He was born in Pieve di Cadore, near Belluno.
Ti ...
.
*''The Virgin Mary and Infant Jesus treading on the Serpent''; after
G. L. Valesio.
*''A Thesis, representing Religion as the true Knowledge''; inscribed Non judiciamus, etc.; after
C. Vignon.
*''St. Francis de Paula in ecstasy before the Sacrament''; after
S. Vouet.
*Frontispiece for a Book, ''Fame holding the Portrait of Cardinal Mazarin''; after the same.
*''The Assumption of the Virgin''; after
Domenichino.
Meyer's ' Künstler-Lexikon' lists 223 of his works.
References
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Audran, Charles
1594 births
1674 deaths
17th-century French engravers
Engravers from Paris