Studying under François-Édouard Picot and Ary Scheffer, Claudius Marcel Popelin was known for his historical paintings, portraits, and enamels.

[2][3] On 15 April 1858, he married Marie Thérèse Anquetil (1836–1869) in the 8th arrondissement of Paris.

They had one child, Gustave Popelin (1859–1937), an artist who won the Grand Prix de Rome.

Popelin dedicated two works to his son: his translation of Hypnerotomachia Poliphili and his collection of poems.

[4] Popelin was the first to translate, annotate, and comment on the famous work originally printed in 1499: Le Songe de Poliphile was published in French in 1883 by Isidore Liseux.