Francisco Copello moved to Italy to study at the Academy of Fine Arts in Florence, after having worked for several years at the family pasta business "Bandera" in Santiago. In Italy he specialized in painting and printmaking, and met the Argentine Inés Osella, his friend and classmate at the Academy. According to Copello’s own accounts, he and Inés took private lessons from the painter and printmaker Augusto Zoboli (Modena, 1894 – Formigine, 1991) for a whole year. Copello was particularly fascinated by Florentine Renaissance architecture and the arts. In 1967, he received his Bachelor’s degree with a major in Painting.