Jean Audran

Jean Audran was a printmaker active during a fifty-year period, documented between 1677 and 1727. His professional career encompassed the late Baroque era, during which he established a significant reputation for his engravings and etchings, contributing to the widespread dissemination of historical and religious imagery.

Audran’s subjects frequently involved religious and mythological narratives. Noteworthy works represented in major collections include the devotional images St John of the Cross and St. Bruno, alongside complex compositional pieces such as Kruisoprichting and The Passion for Love. A key component of his practice was the skilled reproduction of paintings by contemporary masters, exemplified by the print Moses Defending the Daughers of Jethro, after Le Brun, which demonstrates Audran’s technical ability to translate complex, large-scale compositions into the detailed medium of the print.

Fifteen of Jean Audran prints are documented in international museum collections, establishing his legacy. His work is permanently held in prestigious institutions, including the Rijksmuseum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. As works originating from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, many of Audran’s historical compositions are now in the public domain, ensuring their continued accessibility as museum-quality images and downloadable artwork for research and study.