He was a student of Jean-Baptiste Regnault, Horace Vernet and Jean-Victor Bertin at the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts. His debut at the Paris came in 1824, with a scene depicting the invention of the lyre. Over the next few years, he became a regular annual contributor, with a profusion of subjects, based on his extensive travels to Spain, Italy, North Africa and Turkey. He also exhibited at the Exposition Universelle (1855)