Portrait of Alessandro Simonetta

Monsignor Alessandro, abbot of San Barnaba in Gratosoglio and papal nuncio in Naples, belongs to the Simonetta family; the most famous ancestor, Cicco, was a powerful politician in the Duchy of Milan in the fifteenth century. The Simonetta family owned a large estate in Castellazzo di Rho (Milan), with a magnificent villa (today Villa Schleiber-Simonetta, recently transformed into a resort) where Carlo Borromeo was also a guest; Alessandro, an intellectual and patron, was responsible for the decision to have the noble chapel frescoed in the Shrine of Rho by Camillo Procaccini. He died in 1606, leaving two annual incomes and some fine pieces of silverware to the hospital, with a will dated March 16, 1606. He is buried in the church of Santa Maria delle Grazie, in Milan. The portrait is made by a painter about whom there is no information.