His father, José Rodrigues Villares, was a Lieutenant Colonel, a member of the Nova Iguaçu city council, and a participant in the Liberal rebellions of 1842. Although his family was not wealthy, they were politically connected (his uncle, Manoel Rodrigues Villares (1804-1878), served as a Minister of the Supreme Federal Court), so he was able to gain entrance to the Colégio Pedro II and the Academia Imperial de Belas Artes. There, he studied with Victor Meirelles and Pedro Américo.