[3] The first Chilean student to attend the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, Caro's body of work included portraits and scenes of everyday life, and earned him high honors and international recognition.

Born in Ancud into a wealthy family in central coastal Chile, Caro initially wanted to become a businessman, but during a prolonged illness confining him to bed, he discovered his interest in the visual arts.

[1] In 1859 at age 23, he went to Paris at his father's urging where he befriended the French painter Paul Césaire Gariot who worked in the Neoclassical style.

[1][5] In 1866 he returned to his home country and opened a studio in the plaza near Iglesia de la Matriz, Valparaiso.

[2] One of his famous paintings is his 1873 work The Zamacueca, a colorful folk dance scene that for a time was lost during the Pinochet regime, but eventually became an icon of Chilean identity.