EDELINCK, GERARD 707), Flemish copper-plate engraver, was born in Antwerp on Oct. 20, 1649. He learned the rudiments of the art in his native town under Gaspard Huybrecht. He then went to Paris in 1665 and worked under de Poilly. On the recommendation of Le Brun, he was appointed teacher at the academy established at the Gobelins to train workers in tapestry.
Edelinck with Nanteuil and Masson formed the great trium virate of the best period of French portrait engraving. He excelled in rendering light and shade, colour and the texture of surfaces. He was the first to execute prints in the lozenge shape. Among his works, which number 341, are a "Holy Family," after Raphael; a Penitent Magdalene," after Charles le Brun ; "Alexander at the Tent of Darius," after Le Brun ; a "Combat of Four Knights" after Leonardo da Vinci ; "Christ surrounded by Angels" ; "St. Louis praying"; and "St. Charles Borromeo before a crucifix"—the last three after Le Brun. Edelinck engraved portraits of many of the most eminent persons of his time. Among these are those of Louis XIV., Le Brun, Rigaud, Philippe de Champaigne (which the engraver thought his best), Santeul, La Fontaine, Colbert, John Dryden, Descartes, etc. He died in Paris on April 2, 1707. His two brothers, Jean and Gaspard Francois, and his son Nicolas, were also engravers, but did not attain to his excellence.