In the penultimate decade of the 19th century, Marioni apprenticed as a lithographer at the Salvioni workshop in Bellinzona. He later had the opportunity to perfect his technique during a four-year stay in Paris. He also spent some time in Turin, before settling permanently in Milan around 1893. There, he quickly achieved success as a printer and engraver, opening his own workshop, the "Calcografia di Milano," which quickly became one of the most renowned chalcographic studios of the early 20th century.
At the same time, Marioni produced etchings himself; with great technical expertise, he applied a highly personal process to the coloring of his prints, creating a sort of "color monotypes." The result was that two or more copies of the same etching differed in coloration, each constituting a unique work.