In 1875, he received a government scholarship that allowed him to study in Paris and Rome. He returned in 1881, with sketches of the Assumption of the Virgin, commissioned by José Antonio Ponte (1832-1883), the Archbishop of Caracas, that he used for murals at Caracas Cathedral, painted with the assistance of Cristóbal Rojas. In 1883, he portrayed the final moments of Simón Bolívar, to commemorate the centennial of Bolívar's birth. The following year, he travelled to Peru on behalf of Tovar, making sketches at the sites of the battles of Junín and Ayacucho for paintings that Tovar had been commissioned to create for the Palacio Federal Legislativo. As it turned out, Herrera had to complete the "Battle of Ayacucho" after Tovar's death.