An artist of great technical precision, a master of watercolour painting, which was a medium much appreciated in the 19th century. The government of the First Republic sent him to Rome, where he lived for ten years, to study at the Academy of Rome. He had great international impact, as the market, with the art dealer Goupil at the forefront, wanted to establish him as the substitute for his compatriot Fortuny, who had died not long before. However, his grounding in Rome was soon surpassed by the impact of new trends from Paris.