At the age of 11, Rodolpho Amoêdo left Salvador (BA) for Rio de Janeiro. His academic career includes the most traditional institutions of the time, such as the Colégio Pedro II, the Lyceum of Arts and Crafts and the Imperial Academy of Fine Arts (AIBA), an institution that allowed him to study as a pensioner in Paris. At the age of 31, he made his first exhibition and became a professor at AIBA, where he made a long career, becoming deputy director of the institution in the period in which AIBA became known as the National School of Fine Arts, just after the Republic Proclamation. In addition to painting on canvas, Amoêdo did work in some public buildings in Rio de Janeiro, such as the National Library and the Municipal Theater.