François-Auguste Ravier was born in Lyons in 1814. His father, a confectioner, wanted him to pursue a career as a notary, and the young Ravier went off to Paris in 1832 to study law. His spare time was taken up with drawing and painting, and he has been said to have attended the studios of Jules Coignet (1798-1860) and Aligny (q.v.). But according to Nathalie Favier, an expert on this painter, it is possible that Ravier received advice from a number of artists without having pursued any traditional artistic training.

In 1837-38 he painted in the Paris area, in the forest of Fontainebleau, and in the Dauphiné and the Bugey, a region to the east of Lyons. In Royat in 1839, he met Corot, whom he revered the most....