The son of the painter and illustrator Professor Eduardo Matania, Fortunino Matania was born in Naples on 16 April 1881. Training in his father's studio, he illustrated his first book at the age of 14, and moved to Milan to take up the position of Special Artist for Illustrazione Italiana.
In his youth, he also worked in Paris for L'Illustration Francaise and in London for The Graphic. After a term of military service with the Bersaglieri in 1903, he settled in London and joined the staff of The Sphere. A specialist in historical and battle painting in oil and watercolour, he worked as both a Special Artist for The Sphere and as an Official War Artist during the First World War. Elected to the membership of the RI in 1917, he was awarded the Chevalier of Crown of Italy in the following year. He also regularly exhibited work at the Royal Academy, seven times between 1908 and 1921.
Although he had received great acclaim as a war artist for his emotive and graphic depictions of warfare, following the war he turned to Neoclassicism. Making use of his renowned artistic accuracy, he filled his London studio with history books, period furniture and statues. The resulting collection of work was published regularly in the British magazine Britannia and Eve for 19 years.
In his later life, Fortunino Matania continued to illustrate for numerous Italian magazines and at the time of his death, was contributing to the weekly British periodical Look and Learn. He died in London in 1963.
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