He was born in
Paris. In 1816, he became a pupil of
Horace Vernet. After 1820, he was employed in the workshop of
Antoine-Jean Gros. He also received advice from the painter
Théodore Géricault. From 1827 to 1828, under the auspices of Vernet, he became the ship's painter on the frigate
La Victorieuse and sailed throughout the Mediterranean, visiting
Corsica,
Malta, the Greek islands, Istanbul, the coast of Syria and Egypt. Later, from 1837 to 1838, he participated in an expedition that visited Syria, Lebanon and Palestine. While there, he dressed as a native, travelled with caravans, lived in a tent and studied Arabic. He also kept a detailed travel diary that is now in the collection of the
Bibliothèque Nationale de France. The sketches he made provided a source for paintings that lasted the rest of his life. His first exhibition at the
Salon came in 1835 and he would continue to exhibit there on a regular basis until 1881. For many years, he was a teacher at the
École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts. The Louvre is in possession of 917 of his original drawings; donated by one of his nephews. All of his sketches and paintings are characterized by precise ethnographic detail and devoid of any romanticized or idealized representations. Montfort died in Paris in 1884. ==Selected paintings==