Jean-Nicolas Servan, also known as Giovanni Niccolò Servando or Servandoni (2 May 1695 - 19 January 1766) was a French

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 decorator, architect

Architect

An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...

, scene-painter and trompe-l'œil specialist.

He was the son of a carriage-builder at Lyon

Lyon

Lyon , is a city in east-central France in the Rhône-Alpes region, situated between Paris and Marseille. Lyon is located at from Paris, from Marseille, from Geneva, from Turin, and from Barcelona. The residents of the city are called Lyonnais....

.

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 altar

Altar

An altar is any structure upon which offerings such as sacrifices are made for religious purposes. Altars are usually found at shrines, and they can be located in temples, churches and other places of worship...

s, and the façade

Facade

A facade or façade is generally one exterior side of a building, usually, but not always, the front. The word comes from the French language, literally meaning "frontage" or "face"....

 for the church of Saint Sulpice

Saint-Sulpice (Paris)

Saint-Sulpice is a Roman Catholic church in Paris, France, on the east side of the Place Saint-Sulpice, in the Luxembourg Quarter of the VIe arrondissement. At 113 metres long, 58 metres in width and 34 metres tall, it is only slightly smaller than Notre-Dame and thus the second largest church in...

 in Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

. 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.