In 1855, in accordance with his father’s wishes, nineteen-year-old Andriolli began his studies at the Faculty of Medicine in Moscow. He went to Moscow, because the Vilnius University, closed down by the tsarist authorities in 1832, was still closed at that time in retaliation for the participation of students and academics in the November Uprising.

Since the medical profession was not his vocation, after completing anatomy courses he moved to the Moscow School of Painting and Sculpture. He studied under the Russian portrait painter Sergei Zaryanko (1818-1871). He fell into disfavour with his father who envisaged a better future than the artist’s precarious existence to his son and stopped funding his education. He managed to complete his art studies thanks to his brother Erminio, who shared with him the modest scholarship received from their father. In 1857 he was awarded the title of “neklassnyy khudozhnik” for his Portrait of a Student. In the same year, the poem by Syrokomla Saint Francis of Assisi was illustrated by E. M. Andriolli, which was his first illustration published in print.

After graduating from the Moscow School of Painting and Sculpture he continued his studies at the Imperial Academy of Fine Arts in St. Petersburg until the end of 1859, making himself known as a very diligent and talented student. In 1858 he presented his work The Fight of the Lithuanians against Teutonic Knights at a public exhibition in Vilnius.

The next stage of education started in 1860 was the study at the Academy of St. Luke in Rome. Andriolli met many other Polish students there, including Władysław Mickiewicz, the son of the poet Adam, with whom he was in touch for many years. The winning of a great silver medal was an artistic achievement.

During his studies in Rome Andriolli travelled around Italy, documenting the places he visited and the artworks he saw in the form of illustrations. Unfortunately, most of the numerous landscapes and studio portraits made there were lost in the fire of the house in 1884.