In 1868 he received a scholarship from the Chilean government for a stay in Europe and studied at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris with Alexandre Cabanel and Hippolyte Taine.

During this time Ortega Portales also visited Italy, Spain, Belgium and Germany.After a ten-years sojourn in Europe he settled in Santiago of Chile, where he painted portraits and Italian scene from memory.

Intessive training permitted him resolve any genre with Jean-Claude Nicolas Forestier in perspective allowed him to experiment in monumental compositions.

The rigidity of his characters and strident colors were criticized by his contemporaries and prevented him from joining the faculty al the School of Fine Arts.

In the 1882 South American Continental Exhibition in Buenos Aires, he received the second prize.