Florentin SERVAN (Lyon 1810 - 1879 Lyon) - Lot 66

Florentin SERVAN (Lyon 1810 - 1879 Lyon) Landscape with mystic in contemplative prayer Oil on canvas (original canvas), signed lower right in red oil 129 x 102 cm Born into a consular family of cloth merchants, Servan turned to painting after the death of his father, studying at the École des Beaux-Arts de Lyon (1830-1832) under Augustin Thierriat and with the support of his uncle Victor Orsel. Deeply Christian, he frequented Lyon's Catholic circles and became involved with the Conférences Saint-Vincent-de-Paul and the Institut Catholique. His career began in 1840 with religious landscapes, halfway between history and landscape, often inspired by the Bugey region where he owned the Château de Lacoux. He became mayor of this village (1848-1868) and painted there regularly, welcoming artists such as Paul Flandrin. After two trips to Italy and a stay in Hyères, he exhibited in Lyon and at the Paris Salon, where he won a medal in 1846. Widowed in 1850, he retired from a career in Paris. A representative of the mystical landscape, he combined studies on the motif with classical recompositions, blending religious scenes, pastorals and idealized figures, anchored in Lacoux's natural surroundings.