In 1840, he set himself up at Saint-Étienne, where he was professor at the town's university. He left the town for Lyon in 1845 where he became a professor at the École des Beaux-Arts de Lyon, becoming its director in 1874 and teaching artists including Léon-Alexandre Delhomme. In 1852 he produced the Virgin on top of the chapel of the Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière in his studio on the quays of the Saône. When his studio was flooded, the statue's unveiling was put back to 8 December, which has since then been celebrated as Lyon's fête des lumières.
