Born in Olivola in what was then the Kingdom of Sardinia, Candiani was admitted to the Sardinian naval school by royal concession at just nine years of age.

In September 1866 he went on a diplomatic mission to Peking (now Beijing) in China, during which he completed one of the first challenging tests in international politics of the newly formed Kingdom of Italy.

Aboard the steam frigate Giuseppe Garibaldi, Candiani circumnavigated the globe again as admiral and aide-de-camp to Prince Tommaso, Duke of Genoa, departing Naples on 16 November 1872.

During the 708-day voyage, the ship called at Gibraltar, Rio de Janeiro, Melbourne, the Fiji Islands, Yokohama, Honolulu, San Francisco, Acapulco, Puerto San José (in Guatemala), Amapala (in Honduras), Puntarenas (in Costa Rica), Valparaiso, Montevideo, and Tangier before returning to Italy at La Spezia on 22 October 1874.

[1] Candiani became the supreme naval commander on land, and the alliance's victory over the Boxers led to Italy gaining control of the Italian concession of Tientsin (now Tianjin) in 1901.