He was born in Porto Ceresio on the 1st of September 1727, the son of Pietro Luigi Bossi. His father, a stucco-worker, took Benigno with him on his travels: in fact, during the period 1743-1751 his father worked at Huberstburg Castle (Saxony), in Nuremberg and Dresden. Benigno learnt the art of working stucco from his father and, during the German sojourn, began his activity as an engraver.
In 1757, with the outbreak of the Seven Years' War, Benigno returned to Italy, first sojourning in Milan and then moving to Parma at around 1760. Here he began his collaboration with the architect and engraver Ennemond Alexandre Petitot (1727-1801) who in 1753 had been nominated architect of the ducal buildings. In 1766 Benigno Bossi was nominated court stucco-worker and professor at the Academy of Fine Arts. During these years he carried out stucco works in the Palace of the Garden in Parma, in the Oratory of the Hunting Lodge of Copermio near Colorno and in the local ducal church. Also some paintings of the church are attributed to him.
Engraving was the artistic medium in which he achieved his most praiseworthy results. In particular, he took the art of the aquatint - either by itself or in association with other techniques - to its most elevated technical and expressive possibilities. Besides producing engravings from his own original drawings, from among the subjects which were particularly dear to him were the works by Parmigianino (Francesco Mazzola, 1503-1540): in 1772 he published a collection of plates dedicated to him, considered his masterpiece.
Benigno Bossi died in Parma on the 4th of November 1792.