 He was born in Morazzone, near Varese, Lombardy, the son of a mason, who soon after his birth moved to Rome.There he was influenced by Ventura Salimbeni and Cavalier D'Arpino and began to work in a Mannerist style.In Rome he painted some canvases and also his first frescoes ("Adoration by the Magi" and a "Visitation") in San Silvestro in Capite (1596).