Born as the son of Katharina Deflorin from Tavetsch, and the carpenter, painter, gilder and farmer Johann Columban, Felix Maria Diogg grew up in Andermatt in the canton of Uri.

The great fire of Andermatt in 1766 forced the family to move to Tschamut in the canton of Graubünden where the abbot of Disentis, Columban Sozzi, paid attention to the talent of the shepherd boy.

In 1791 he became a citizen of Rapperswil and married Anna Elsa Franziska (Lisette) Diogg-Curti, the daughter of guild master Karl Ludwig, in July 1792.

A year later, the now upstart Diogg published, influenced by the ideas of the French Revolution, an open letter in which he denounced the hypocrisy of the provincial aristocracy.

In 1797 he met Goethe in Stäfa on Zürichsee lake shore where he painted "Freiheitstafel für die vom Zürcher Rat gemassregelten Patrioten", literally the Freedom panel for the patriots reprimanded by the Zürich Council in 1798.

Even in his arrived years Diogg was traveling: he painted in Appenzell, St. Gallen and Herisau, from 1799 to 1809 in Bern and western Switzerland, later in Alsace and in Karlsruhe where he portrayed the Russian Empress Elizabeth Alexeyevna in 1814.

Representatives from different walks of life interested Diogg primarily as individuals; the state indicating attributes and anecdotal elements recede.

The art historian Walter Hugelshofer emphasizes the stately formats of images as well as the Diogg's sense for a picturesque overall idea, and a warm color scale.