In 1826, he moved to Rio de Janeiro, in order to study painting with Jean-Baptiste Debret at the Imperial Academy of Fine Arts.

Porto-Alegre and Magalhães would create in France, in the year of 1837, a short-lived magazine named Niterói, alongside Francisco de Sales Torres Homem.

He decorated the imperial palace in Petrópolis, the wedding of Pedro II with Teresa Cristina of the Two Sicilies and the emperor's coronation.

In 1852, he entered the political career, assuming a position as a substitute councilman in the Municipal Chamber of Rio de Janeiro, lending service in the areas of urbanism and public health.

He was granted the title of Baron of Santo Ângelo by emperor Pedro II in 1874, and was a member of the Brazilian Historic and Geographic Institute.