He joined the École royale militaire at Rebais but emigrated with his family in May 1791.
After leaving active service he and his family settled on Guernsey and travelled across Europe.
He had a passion for drawing and in 1807 settled in Paris, where he studied under Jean-Victor Bertin.
In 1810 he went to Karlsruhe to study under Christian Haldenwang, Baden's court engraver.
He settled at Heidelberg (where he later died) to draw the ruins of Heidelberg Castle, devoting the rest of his life to their protection and restoration, creating a series of engravings of them and convincing Leopold, Grand Duke of Baden to repair part of them.