Blondel studied with Jean-Baptiste Regnault and won the Prix de Rome in 1803, aged eighteen, but because the trips to Rome were suspended he received a thousand francs and was only able to leave for Italy six years later. He exhibited in the Salon from 1812 to 1847. He was named Professor at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in 1824 and was awarded the Légion d'Honneur the same year. In 1832 he was elected to the Institut de France. He worked on decorations at Fontainebleau, Versailles, the Louvre and numerous churches in Paris.