Lino Selvatico, whose real name is Ercole Galeazzo Giulio Riccardo Selvatico, was born in Padua on 9 July 1872 into a cultured and wealthy family. His father Riccardo was a promoter of Venetian exhibitions, president of the International Art Exhibitions, poet and mayor of Venice. He initiated Lino into legal studies, but Lino preferred to devote himself to painting from an early age, under the guidance of Cesare Laurenti.
In 1899, he made his debut at the 3rd Venice Biennale where his work was almost entirely dedicated to portraiture.
The following year, the artist represented himself in one of his two known self-portraits, exhibited at the IV Brera Triennale and subsequently purchased by the Royal Household.

In 1910, Selvatico gained notoriety abroad, presenting the work Lady in Black at the International Exhibition in Buenos Aires.
In 1923, Lino Selvatico painted a portrait of King Alfonso XIII of Spain. Unfortunately, on 25 July of the same year, the artist lost his life in a car accident near his father's villa in Biancade, in the province of Treviso.
In his memory, the 1926 Biennale dedicated a large retrospective to him, thanks to the intervention of his younger brother Luigi, also a painter, where forty-five of his paintings were exhibited.