Giovanni Niccolò Servandoni

Theatre decor realized by Servandoni for the Château de Condé.

Print from 1749, at V&A Museum no. 21228.

Jean-Nicolas Servan, also known as Giovanni Niccolò Servando or Servandoni (2 May 1695 - 19 January 1766) was a French decorator, architect, scene-painter and trompe-l'œil specialist.

He was the son of a carriage-builder at Lyon. Francesco Milizia claims Giovanni Girolamo Servandoni was born in Florence.

From 1724 to 1742 he was director of decorations at the Paris Opera, at that time situated in a wing of the Palais-Royal. His activity was considerable, whether as a painter or as an inventor of scenic contrivances for fêtes at the marriage of royal personages.

He also designed the decorations for altars, and the façade for the church of Saint Sulpice in Paris. He died in Paris in the early 1766.

His writings include:

• 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

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. 
• Milizia, Francesco (1797). Dizionario delle Belle Arti del Disegno y Estratto in Gran Parte dalla Enciclopedia Metodica da Francesco Milizia, Seconda Edizione, Tomo Secondo. Bassano, Italy;. pp. page 172. http://books.google.com/books?id=bvhYAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false. 

Media related to Giovanni Niccolo Servandoni at Wikimedia Commons