Born in Turin, Giuseppe Leone Righini, (also known as Joseph León), left from Genoa to Brazil in approximately 1855 as the scenery painter in the Jose Ramonde Opera Company. Righini became enamored of Brazil, settling there and producing panoramic views of the Amazon and its cities- Sao Luis do Maranhao, Salvador and Belém as well as portraying the rubber harvesters who were the basis of the area's riches. In 1867 Righini published a set of twelve engravings of Belém.