Artist Lev Felixovich Lagorio was born in December 1827 in Feodosia to a merchant family, which was from an aristocratic Genoese lineage and served as the vice-consul of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.

He studied at the gymnasium in Feodosia and took painting lessons from I.K. Aivazovsky. In 1843, the Taurida governor A.I. Kaznacheev brought the talented Lagorio to St. Petersburg and helped him enroll in the Imperial Academy of Arts. His education was financed by Duke Maximilian Leichtenberg.

Lev Felixovich studied in the landscape class under M.N. Vorobyov and additionally with A.I. Sauerweid, and later with B.P. Villevalde.

He had a particular passion for painting seascapes. To improve his skills, he went on a voyage on the military frigate "Grozashchiy," acquired a sailing boat, and traveled around the Gulf of Finland.

In 1845, Lagorio discovered Staraya Ladoga and the Valaam Monastery, where the architecture of the churches harmoniously blended with the natural landscapes.

After his trip to Valaam, he created a series of works about the surroundings of St. Petersburg and received the Grand Gold Medal for the painting "View of the Marsh at Lisiy Nos," along with the title of a first-class artist and the right to travel to Europe.

During this time, he befriended painters the Zhemchuzhnikov brothers, P.A. Fedotov, and A.E. Beydeman. Together with Lev Zhemchuzhnikov and Alexander Beydeman, he created the famous portrait of Kozma Prutkov.

Before his trip to Europe, the Academy sent Lagorio to the Caucasus to paint local views. The Caucasus impressed him, and he returned there multiple times to paint landscapes with the same love as he did for seascapes.

From 1853 to 1860, Lagorio worked abroad. He returned from his trip with over 30 paintings and received the title of professor at the Academy, bypassing the title of academician.

The title of professor opened the doors to aristocratic salons in St. Petersburg.

In 1861, Lagorio, as part of the entourage of Grand Duke Mikhail Nikolaevich, went to the Caucasus. For two years, he painted Caucasian views and participated in the war with the mountaineers, for which he received swords to the Order of St. Anna.

From the early 1870s, Lagorio increasingly painted Crimea. In the second half of the 19th century, Crimea became popular among Russian painters, as a trip to Italy was expensive, and the views of Crimea were no less beautiful than those of Italy.

During the Russo-Turkish War (1877-1878), Lagorio was a Russian correspondent and expressed his impressions in battle paintings.

After the war, he continued to paint Crimean landscapes and became fascinated with watercolor.

Despite his popularity, Lagorio often struggled financially and requested advances to fund his trips and work on paintings that he created over the years.

In 1900, he became an honorary member of the Academy of Arts.

Lev Felixovich Lagorio passed away in 1905 and was buried in St. Petersburg.