Imaginary View of Lyon

Born in Lyon and the son of a silk worker, Hennequin studied briefly in the studio of Jacques Louis David. Accused of theft, he left to study in Rome until he was expelled by the papal police in 1790 and fled to Lyon. After royalist sympathizers gained power in the local government, the National Convention of the newly-formed republic sent forces to lay siege to the city in October 1793. After considerable violence, the National Convention gained control of the city and Hennequin, sympathetic to the Jacobins, was put in charge of various committees. He oversaw the removal and cataloguing of artworks from the city’s churches during a period when many in Paris called for the destruction of the city.


This panoramic view, presumably based on the view from the window of the artist’s apartment on the quai Célestin, shows the west bank of the river Saône with the medieval cathedral Saint-Jean-Baptiste to the left. Other buildings are depicted in ruins or with terracotta roofs evoking ancient Rome. Also recalling the classical era are the figures along the banks of the river. The hill in the distance is the site of the ancient city of Lugdunum, capital of the French province of the Roman empire.