He was born in Versailles and studied in Paris with Jules Joseph Lefebvre and Gustave Clarence Rodolphe Boulanger.

[1] His themes are generally historical, and he treated them on a colossal scale and in an emotional naturalistic style, with a distinct revelling in horrible subjects and details.

He made his Paris Salon début in 1882 with Vitellius traîné dans les rues de Rome par la populace (Vitellius dragged through the streets of Rome by the people) (1882; Sens).

In quite another style and beautiful in colour is his Le Chevalier aux Fleurs (The Knight of Flowers) (1894; Musée d’Orsay, Paris; RF 898).

He is buried in Paris, in the Montparnasse Cemetery, near the poet Theodore de Banville, his stepfather.