His father, Felice Lagorio (1781-1857) was a Genoese merchant serving as Vice-Consul for the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.

In 1842, with the support of Alexander Kaznacheyev [ru], the Governor of Taurida, he was able to enroll at the Imperial Academy of Arts.

[1] He was also awarded a pension to study abroad, visiting Paris first (1853), then Rome, where he stayed until 1859, the last two years at his own expense.

He returned to the Caucasus in 1863 and 1864, with the entourage of Grand Duke Mikhail Nikolayevich, where he participated in the Caucasian War.

In 1885, he was commissioned to paint a series of works on the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878 and visited battlefields throughout the European and Asian theaters.