Cot was born in Bédarieux, Hérault, and initially studied at l’Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Toulouse before going to Paris. He studied under Leon Cogniet, Alexandre Cabanel and William-Adolphe Bouguereau. In 1863 he made a successful debut at the Salon, and from the 1870s, his popularity grew quickly.

Cot enjoyed the patronage of the academic sculptor Francisque Duret, whose daughter he married, and of Bouguereau, with whom he had also worked. Bouguereau painted a portrait of Cot’s daughter, Gabrielle. Bouguereau had dined with the Cot family to celebrate Gabrielle’s marriage to an architect named Zilin. The artist made a gift of the painting to the wife of Duret, Gabrielle’s grandmother.

Cot won various prizes and medals, and in 1874 was made Chevalier of the Legion of Honour.

He died in Paris at the age of 46. He is buried at the Père Lachaise Cemetery. Source: Wikipedia.