Paul Jacques-Aimé Baudry was born in La-Roche-sur-Yonne (Vendée), France, 1828. Like many young french artists from provinces, Paul Baudry went to Paris in 1844, using a grant from his municipality to pay his tuition fees.

He entered the school of Ecole des Beaux-Arts in 1845, studying under Martin Drolling, a sound but second-rate artist. His talents, at first, were strictly academics, graceful and elegant, but somewhat lacking originality. In five successive attempts at the Prix de Rome, he rose up through the ranks of the finalists, winning the first prize which he shared with William Bouguereau in 1850.

Baudry commonly selected mythological or fanciful subjects. Once only did he attempt an historical picture but soon returned to the subject of which he was most successful, painting portraits of illustrious men of his day.

Critics had already noticed that Paul was more attracted by Venetian painting than was customary. He traveled to Rome and sent works back to Paris, which clearly showed his indebted to Titian.

The works that crowned Baudry's reputation were his mural decorations, producing over thirty works over ten years. His most known work is the mural decoration in the foyer of the Paris Opera House.

When Baudry died in Paris, 1886, he was a member of the Institut de France. Two of his colleagues, Dubois and Marius-Jean Mercié, co-operating with his brother, Baudry the architect, erected a monument to him in Paris, 1890. The statue of Baudry at La Roche-sur-Yonne is by Jean-Léon Gérôme.