In 1849, he was appointed Deputy Curator at the Naval Museum in the Louvre. Three years later, following the resignation of , he became the Director as well. He was named a Peintre de la Marine in 1853. In 1854, he took part in the Crimean War as an official painter and witnessed the Battle of Bomarsund. Upon his return, he and Jean-Baptiste Henri Durand-Brager published views of the coast of the Black Sea. Shortly after, he visited Scandinavia, Normandy and Brittany, where he painted scenes of old ships. In 1857, he was promoted to full Curator at the museum. He served as the first Mayor of the 20th Arrondissement of Paris from 1860 to 1869.