Pallière was born of French parents in Rio de Janeiro in 1823. His schooling, however, took place in Europe. He went back and forth between Brazil and Europe and finally reached the Rio de La Plata in 1856. For a long time, Brazilian critics were unaware of the time Pallière spent in Argentina, believing that having left Brazil in 1850 he did not return to America again. Curiously, his stay in the Rio de La Plata region represents one of the richest periods of creativity in Pallière's artistic life. He abandoned classic painting and turned to romantic depictions of locals and their surroundings.