After the early death of his mother, Jules Breton and his three siblings were mainly raised by their father, who worked as a supervisor of the lands of the duke of Duras. The Belgian painter Félix de Vigne (1806-1862) convinced the young man to study with him, and Breton moved to Gent in 1843 where he attended the Royal Academy. In 1846, he was in Antwerp working briefly at the academy and spend