Son of the sculptor Pietro Cambi, he was born in Florence where he attended the courses of the local Art High School (Liceo Artistico) and then of the Accademia.

He then become professor at the Accademia,[1] teaching sculpture and influencing several well-known Italian artists as Giovanni Dupré from Siena[2] and Giorgio Ceragioli,[3] who was mainly active in Piemonte.

From the 1840s on he realised several important artworks such as the statues of Benvenuto Cellini for the ground-floor courtyard of the Ufizzi; a Monument to Carlo Goldoni located in front of Ponte alla Carraia in the quartiere of Santa Maria Novella of Florence; and the monumental fountain located in Piazza Duomo of Prato.

His funeral monuments, like the one devoted to the painter Giuseppe Sabatelli (Basilica of Santa Croce, Florence), where particularly appreciated.

During his late days the prevailing realistic artistic movement made his neoclassical style becoming old-fashioned and turned away from him the favour of art criticism.