In 1867 he travelled to Jerez de la Frontera to work as a restorer and designer of stained glass.

In 1881 he moved to París, where he studied for nine years, painting works set in the eighteenth century in the style of Fortuny with notable success.

Daniel Vázquez Díaz, Eugenio Hermoso, Ricardo López Cabrera, Manuel González Santos and Sanz Arizmendi were his pupils during this time in Seville.

In the last decade of the nineteenth century he frequented the Alcala de Guadaíra circle of landscape painters, leaving this genre some examples of "grand master" works (according to Sorolla).

He was also a noted cartoonist and illustrator, producing 689 highlighted drawings for the tercentenary edition of Don Quijote (published 1905).