Jean-Nicolas Servandoni by Jean Francois Colson

Jean-Nicolas Servan, also known as Giovanni Niccolò Servandoni (2 May 1695 – 19 January 1766) was an Italian decorator,

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

, scene-painter, firework designer and

trompe-l'œil ; ; ) is an artistic term for the highly realistic optical illusion of three-dimensional space and objects on a Two-dimensional space, two-dimensional surface. , which is most often associated with painting, tricks the viewer into perceiving p ...

specialist. He was born in Florence, the son of a French carriage driver.

Career

He was educated as an artist of perspective in Rome and was a pupil of

Giovanni Paolo Panini Giovanni Paolo, also known as Gian Paolo Panini or Pannini (17 June 1691 – 21 October 1765), was an Italian Baroque painter and architect who worked in Rome and is primarily known as one of the ''vedutisti'' ("view painters"). As a painter, Pani ...

worked in London as a set designer at the recently founded Royal Academy of Music but moved to Paris in 1724, where he became director of decorations (1724 to 1742) at the

Paris Opera The Paris Opera ( ) is the primary opera and ballet company of France. It was founded in 1669 by Louis XIV as the , and shortly thereafter was placed under the leadership of Jean-Baptiste Lully and officially renamed the , but continued to be kn ...

, at that time situated in the

Théâtre du Palais-Royal The Théâtre du Palais-Royal () is a 750-seat Parisian theatre at 38 rue de Montpensier, located at the northwest corner of the Palais-Royal in the Galerie de Montpensier at its intersection with the Galerie de Beaujolais. Brief history O ...

. He became a member of the

Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture The Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture (; ) was founded in 1648 in Paris, France. It was the premier art institution of France during the latter part of the Ancien Régime until it was abolished in 1793 during the French Revolution. I ...

in 1731. His activity was considerable, whether as a painter or as an inventor of scenic contrivances for fêtes at the marriage of royal personages. He decorated public festivals in England, France, and Portugal. During the years 1738–1743 and 1754–1758, Servandoni produced a series of successful theatrical productions much in the style of seventeenth-century machine plays, with an emphasis on elaborate changes in décor and special effects, often set to music. Unlike the machine plays of the seventeenth century, Servandoni's productions used pantomime rather than dialog, with a description of the story provided in the program. His productions were typically based on well-known stories from literature and mythology such as the "Spectacle de Pandore" (1739) which told the tale of Prometheus and Pandora or "La forêt enchantée" (1754) which was inspired by

Torquato Tasso Torquato Tasso ( , also , ; 11 March 154425 April 1595) was an Italian poet of the 16th century, known for his 1591 poem ''Gerusalemme liberata'' (Jerusalem Delivered), in which he depicts a highly imaginative version of the combats between ...

's "Jerusalem Delivered". He died in Paris early in 1766.

French Works

* Saint Sulpice,

façade A façade or facade (; ) is generally the front part or exterior of a building. It is a loanword from the French language, French (), which means "frontage" or "face". In architecture, the façade of a building is often the most important asp ...

and original square and surrounding buildings, although only No. 6 was completed by him, and the fountain was replaced.

Belgian Works

* D'Ursel Castle *

Mesen Castle Mesen Castle was an important noble residence in Lede, Belgium, today partly ruined and completely abandoned. The castle is considered to have been one of the most important aristocratic estates of the 18th century. History Originally the vast e ...

Egmont Palace The Egmont Palace (, ; ), also sometimes known as the Arenberg Palace (; ), is a neoclassical palace in Brussels, Belgium. It was originally built between 1548 and 1560 for Countess Françoise of Luxembourg and Count Lamoral of Egmont, though ...

Author

*''Description abregée de l'eglise Saint Pierre de Rome'' (Paris, 1738) *''La Relation de la répresentation de la forêt enchantée sur le théâtre des Tuileries, le 31 mars 1754''.

References

Notes Sources * * * Guidoboni, Francesco (2016) doctoral thesis Giovanni Niccolò Servandoni (1695-1766) architetto

Bibliography

* Melanie Doderer-Winkler, "Magnificent Entertainments: Temporary Architecture for Georgian Festivals" (London and New Haven, Yale University Press for The Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art, 2013). and . * Cristiano Marchegiani, « Servandoni (Servandon), Giovanni Niccolò Girolamo (Jean-Nicolas-Jérôme) », in ''Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani'', vol. 92, Roma, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana, 2018, pp. 264–268.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Servan 1695 births 1766 deaths Architects from Florence 18th-century French architects 18th-century Italian painters Italian male painters Quadratura painters French scenic designers Italian scenic designers 18th-century Italian male artists Members of the Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture