A member of the Institut, Léon Renier joined the Commission de Topographie des Gaules in 1861. From 1849, he was responsible for producing the pagan (Gallo-Roman period) section of the Recueil des inscriptions de Gaule. Considered to be one of the founding fathers of epigraphy in France, he promoted the use of scientific methods in epigraphy, such as photography, estampage and precise noting of all the information relating to an inscription.