Madou was born in Brussels. He studied at the Brussels Academy of Fine Arts and was a pupil of Pierre Joseph Célestin François. While draftsman to the topographical military division at Kortrijk, he received a commission for lithographic work from a Brussels publisher. It was about 1820 that he began his artistic career. Between 1825 and 1827 he contributed to Les Vues pittoresques de la Belgique, to a Life of Napoleon, and to works on the costumes of the Netherlands, and later made a great reputation by his work inLa Physionomie de la société en Europe depuis 1400 jusqu'à nos jours and Les Scenes de la vie des peintres. It was not until about 1840 that Madou began to paint in oils, and the success of his early efforts in this medium resulted in a long series of pictures representing scenes of village and city life, including The Fiddler, The Jewel Merchant, The Police Court, The Drunkard, The Ill-regulated Household, and The Village Politicians. Among his numerous works mention may also be made of The Feast at the Chateau, The Unwelcome Guests, generally regarded as his masterpiece, The Rat Hunt, The Arquebusier, and The Stirrup Cup. At the age of sixty-eight he decorated a hall in his house with a series of large paintings representing scenes from La Fontaine's fables, and ten years later made for King Leopold a series of decorative paintings for the Château de Ciergnon. Madou died in Saint-Josse-ten-Noode on 31 March 1877 and was buried in the local cemetery.
Les politiques au village, 1871, Brussels, Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium
Some books illustrated by Madou:
1822 - Jean-Joseph de Cloet, Châteaux et monuments des Pays-Bas, Brussels, Jobard
1825 - Jean-Joseph de Cloet, Voyage pittoresque dans le Royaume des Pays-Bas, Brussels, Jobard.
1831 - Les Environs de Bruxelles
1836 - La physionomie de la société en Europe depuis 1400 jusqu'à nos jours
1839 - Benoit, P.J., Voyage à Surinam. Description des possessions Néerlandaises dans la Guyane. Cent dessins pris sur nature. Lithographies par Madou et Lauters, Bruxelles, Société des Beaux-Arts.
1839 - Les Belges peints par eux-mêmes
1842 - Scènes de la vie des Peintres des Écoles flamandes et hollandaises
Expositions
Saint-Josse-ten-Noode, :fr:Musée Charlier|Musée Charlier, du 26 octobre 2011 au 16 mars 2012 : Madou à visage découvert
