After an initial few years at the École Centrale in Bordeaux, Mazois continued his studies in Paris under Charles Percier and Pierre-François-Leonard Fontaine. He was soon called to Naples in 1809 by Etienne-Chérubin Leconte. Here, he was allowed to draw the antiquities in Pozzuoli and at other sites around Naples. Appointed Director of Buildings for the Crown, he moved to Pompeii. There, living among the excavations, he began his work of measuring and drawing the ruins, as documented in the four in-folio volumes of his Ruines de Pompéi. The first two complete volumes were published in 1824; the other two appeared posthumously in 1829 and 1838, edited by Franz Christian Gau. The end of Murat’s rein and the escape into exile of the queen, Mazois’s patron, put the architect in a very tricky position. He left Naples and managed to return to Pompeii in 1816 and 1819. After finally coming back to Paris in 1820, he was awarded the title of Chevalier of the Legion of Honour, taking responsibility for building construction and restoration for the rest of his life.