Robert Bénard

{{Short description|French engraver}}

File:A variety of plumes. Engraving by R. Bénard after Degerantin Wellcome V0019620EL.jpg

Robert Bénard (1734 in Paris – 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 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, 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 », {{pp.|255-273}} — [https://journals.openedition.org/rde/6276 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.