The illegitimate son of Giovanni Battista Bottrigari, a wealthy Bolognese aristocrat, and Cornelia (alias Caterina) de' Chiari of Brescia, he was legitimized on 16 August 1538 and then raised in his father's house at Sant’Alberto, near Bologna.

Evidently Bottrigari distinguished himself in the recitation of poetry and orations on this occasion; he was duly rewarded by Contarini who invested him with the titles of Knight of the Holy See and Lateran during a Pontifical High Mass in Bologna Cathedral on 9 April 1542.

[1] As a young man he studied classical languages with Francesco Lucchino of Trento, perspective and architecture with Giacomo Ranuzzi and mathematical sciences with Nicolò Simo, professor of astronomy at the University of Bologna.

In May or June 1551 Bottrigari began his political career when he was elected a member of the Consiglio degli Anziani in Bologna, and at the end of that same year he married a wealthy Bolognese, Lucrezia Usberti (died 1591).

One important work which remained in manuscript, the Mascara, overo della fabbrica de' teatri (1598), is a detailed discussion of the history and physical structure of theatres, and a valuable source of information about Renaissance practice.