He was born at
Montbard on the
Côte-d'Or. He studied under
Cavelier,
Millet, and
Barrias, at the
École des Beaux-Arts, which he entered in 1841, and where he gained the
prix de Rome in 1845 with ''Theseus finding on a rock his father's sword''. He became director of the École des Beaux-Arts in 1864, and director-general of Fine Arts from 1878 to 1879, when the office was suppressed. Guillaume was a prolific writer, principally on sculpture and
architecture of the Classic period and of the Italian Renaissance. He was elected member of the
Académie française in 1898, and in 1891 was sent to Rome as director of the
Académie de France in that city. He held this position until 1904. He was also elected an honorary member of the
Royal Academy, London, 1869, on the institution of that class. ==Works==