Decoroso Bonifanti was born in the Italian community of Chiavari, on June 24, 1860. He studies art at the Real Academia Albertina in Turin and arrives in Argentina in 1884 to work on an important mural at the Hotel de Inmigrantes, located at the North Dock of the port area in Buenos Aires. The painting is titled Panorama de la defensa de Roma (Panorama of the defense of Rome) and, according to documentation found at the Dirección General de Patrimonio del Gobierno de la Ciudad, his work was finished in 1894. There is also proof of his murals in Santa Cruz and Tucumán.
Bonifanti settles down in La Boca and his workshop would be located, according to Antonio Bucich, above the restaurant “El cocodrilo” which was frequented by Bartolomé Mitre and Julio Argentino Roca.
His painting presents marine landscapes and portraits of farmers and people from the mountains. His work is exhibited in Italy at the Promotrice in Turin, and at the Circolo degli Artisti. In Buenos Aires, the Witcomb gallery shows his work in 1937.
Bonifanti stands out as a maestro of numerous Argentine artists such as Emilio C. Agrelo (1856-1933), architect and builder of the Bon Marche building (at present Galerías Pacífico); Cupertino del Campo (1873-1967), medical doctor, writer, painter of landscapes and director of the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes between 1911 and 1931, and of Antonio Alice (1886-1943), winner of the prestigious Rome Award in 1904, who got a scholarship to study in Italy where he travels together with his teacher, Bonifanti.
Bonifanti dies in 1941, in Chiavari, Italy, his birth town.
His work can be found at the following museums: Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Museo Provincial “Rosa Galisteo de Rodríguez” in Santa Fe and the Museo de Bellas Artes “Franklin Rawson” in San Juan.