Drevet family
Professional services
UnclaimedThe Drevet family was a multigenerational French dynasty of portrait and reproductive engravers active from the late seventeenth through the eighteenth century.
Last updated August 31, 2026
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Overview
The Drevet family was a prominent French lineage of engravers whose reputation was built primarily through portrait prints and maintained across three generations. The family’s best-known members were Pierre Drevet the Elder, his son Pierre-Imbert Drevet, and his nephew Claude Drevet. Together, they helped sustain a recognizable tradition of technically ambitious engraving in France during a period when printed portraits played an important role in disseminating the likenesses of monarchs, churchmen, statesmen, artists, and other members of the social elite. Pierre Drevet the Elder, born in 1663 in the Lyonnais, began his training with Germain Audran in Lyon and continued his education with Gérard Audran in Paris. His advancement was rapid. He became a court engraver in 1696 and was admitted to the Académie des Beaux-Arts in 1707, where his reception work represented Robert de Cotte. Drevet’s career was closely connected with the fashionable portrait painter Hyacinthe Rigaud. He was among the first engravers to confront the challenge of translating Rigaud’s highly finished oil portraits into black-and-white prints while preserving distinctions of fabric, texture, ornament, and surface. His output was chiefly devoted to portraits of important people, although he also produced religious and historical subjects. Notable plates included likenesses of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, Louis XIV, Louis XV, and Charles II of England, as well as a Crucifixion after Antoine Coypel. Pierre-Imbert Drevet, known as the Younger Pierre, was born in Paris in 1697 and trained under his father. He began engraving at thirteen and initially worked after compositions by Charles Le Brun before establishing an individual manner. He remained closely associated with Pierre the Elder, and the two sometimes collaborated during the elder artist’s later years. Pierre-Imbert became particularly respected for portrait engraving, including images of Bossuet, Cardinal Dubois, Adrienne Lecouvreur, Samuel Bernard, and other prominent figures. His portrait of Samuel Bernard was especially notable because Rigaud himself prepared the drawing, an unusual degree of direct involvement by a major portrait painter. Pierre-Imbert also engraved religious and historical compositions after artists including Le Brun, Coypel, and Louis Boullogne. A sunstroke suffered in 1726 caused Pierre-Imbert recurring mental-health difficulties, but he continued to work for the remainder of his life. He became a member of the Académie de Peinture, and the king granted him apartments in the Louvre. His pupils included François Chéreau, Jacques Chéreau, and Simon Vallée, extending the Drevet-influenced approach beyond the immediate family. Pierre-Imbert died in Paris in 1739, only about a year after his father. Claude Drevet, born in Lyon in 1705, was Pierre the Elder’s nephew and pupil. He continued the family’s stylistic and professional traditions and gathered other engravers around him who sought to preserve the methods associated with the two Pierres. After Pierre-Imbert’s death, Claude received his Louvre rooms. Claude’s surviving work includes portraits of Henri Oswald, Cardinal d’Auvergne, and Charles-Gaspard-Guillaume de Vintimille du Luc, Archbishop of Paris, with several of these works based on paintings by Rigaud. He died in Paris in 1782. The family’s historical importance rests less on a commercial brand in the modern sense than on continuity of workshop training, court patronage, academic recognition, and subject matter. Their prints helped reproduce elite portraiture for audiences beyond the owners of original paintings, while their teaching and collaborations contributed to the wider French engraving profession. The family’s principal period of influence ended with Claude Drevet’s death, although their plates continued to be discussed in histories of French engraving and portrait printmaking.
History
The Drevet family emerged as an important force in French engraving during the late seventeenth century. Pierre Drevet the Elder was born in the Lyonnais in 1663 and studied first with Germain Audran in Lyon before continuing with Gérard Audran in Paris. His professional rise culminated in appointment as a court engraver in 1696 and admission to the Académie des Beaux-Arts in 1707. His reception work depicted Robert de Cotte. Drevet developed a career largely centered on portrait engraving. His association with Hyacinthe Rigaud was especially significant because Rigaud’s paintings emphasized luxurious materials, elaborate costume, and carefully rendered surfaces that were difficult to reproduce in monochrome line engraving. Drevet became known for addressing this problem through technically elaborate plates. His subjects included Jean-Baptiste Colbert, Louis XIV, Louis XV, and Charles II of England, alongside religious and historical works after artists such as Antoine Coypel. In the final part of his life, he worked with his son Pierre-Imbert. Pierre-Imbert Drevet was born in Paris in 1697 and entered the profession under his father’s instruction. He was engraving by the age of thirteen, initially using models by Charles Le Brun before developing a personal style. His portrait of Bossuet after Rigaud was completed in 1723, followed by a portrait of Cardinal Dubois in 1724 and one of Adrienne Lecouvreur in 1730. For his portrait of Samuel Bernard, Rigaud supplied the drawing, an uncommon collaboration between painter and engraver. Pierre-Imbert also created religious and historical prints after Le Brun, Coypel, and Louis Boullogne. A sunstroke in 1726 led to recurring mental-health problems over the following thirteen years, but it did not end his artistic activity. He remained productive until his death in 1739, became a member of the Académie de Peinture, and was granted rooms in the Louvre by the king. His pupils included François Chéreau, Jacques Chéreau, and Simon Vallée, giving his methods an influence outside the family. Claude Drevet, Pierre the Elder’s nephew, was born in Lyon in 1705 and trained with his uncle. He promoted the practices associated with both Pierres and formed a circle of engravers interested in preserving their traditions. After Pierre-Imbert’s death, Claude occupied his Louvre rooms. His documented portraits include Henri Oswald, Cardinal d’Auvergne, and the Archbishop of Paris, Charles-Gaspard-Guillaume de Vintimille du Luc, with important examples based on Rigaud. Claude died in Paris in 1782, marking the end of the family’s principal period of activity. The family is remembered for its role in French court and portrait printmaking, its technical engagement with Rigaud’s paintings, and its transmission of engraving practice through kinship, apprenticeship, and pupils.
- 1782
Death of Claude Drevet
[1]Claude Drevet died in Paris, bringing the documented family lineage's principal period of activity to a close.
- 1739
Death of Pierre-Imbert Drevet
[1]Pierre-Imbert died in Paris. His Louvre rooms later passed to his cousin Claude Drevet.
- 1738
Death of Pierre Drevet the Elder
[1]Pierre Drevet died in Paris after a career spanning court patronage, academic recognition, and portrait engraving.
- 1730
Portrait of Adrienne Lecouvreur
[1]Pierre-Imbert produced an engraved portrait of the celebrated actress Adrienne Lecouvreur.
- 1726
Pierre-Imbert suffers a sunstroke
[1]A sunstroke caused recurring mental-health difficulties for Pierre-Imbert, although he continued engraving.
- 1724
Portrait of Cardinal Dubois
[1]Pierre-Imbert Drevet completed an engraved portrait of Cardinal Dubois.
- 1723
Pierre-Imbert completes the portrait of Bossuet
[1]Pierre-Imbert Drevet completed his portrait of Bossuet after a composition by Hyacinthe Rigaud.
- 1707
Admission to the Académie des Beaux-Arts
[1]Pierre Drevet was admitted to the Académie des Beaux-Arts, submitting an engraving of Robert de Cotte as his reception work.
- 1705
Birth of Claude Drevet
[1]Claude Drevet, later the family's third-generation representative, was born in Lyon.
- 1700
Portrait of Jean-Baptiste Colbert
[1]Pierre Drevet produced a portrait engraving of Jean-Baptiste Colbert.
Products and positioning
A leading French family tradition in court-associated portrait engraving, distinguished by the translation of prestigious oil portraits into highly finished black-and-white prints and by the transmission of engraving skills through family and pupil networks.
Portrait printmaking
Court and aristocratic portrait engravings
The family’s principal output consisted of engraved portraits of monarchs, ministers, church leaders, aristocrats, artists, and other distinguished figures. Pierre Drevet and Pierre-Imbert Drevet were particularly associated with translating prestigious painted portraits into black-and-white prints, including works based on paintings by Hyacinthe Rigaud. These plates circulated likenesses beyond the immediate owners of the original paintings.
Religious and historical printmaking
Religious and historical engravings
Alongside portraiture, Pierre Drevet and Pierre-Imbert Drevet produced religious and historical compositions. Recorded examples include a Crucifixion after Antoine Coypel and presentation scenes after Charles Le Brun and Louis Boullogne. These works demonstrate that the family’s practice extended beyond court portrait commissions into the broader market for reproductive and devotional prints.
Reproductive engraving
Portraits after Hyacinthe Rigaud
Engravings based on Hyacinthe Rigaud’s portraits formed a defining part of the Drevet reputation. The family’s engravers worked to convey the texture of clothing, the sheen of materials, and the formal presence of elite sitters through monochrome engraved line. Pierre-Imbert’s portrait of Samuel Bernard was particularly notable because Rigaud prepared the drawing used for the engraving.
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