[2] His father instructed him in philosophical studies and in mathematics while preceptors taught him Latin and Greek; he also received the rudiments of music.

In 1643 he accompanied as secretary the Venetian ambassador Aloise Contarini to Münster for the negotiations to prepare for the Peace of Westphalia which was signed on 24 October 1648.

In the winter in 1653 he went to Rome to ask the advice of Cardinal Chigi who recommended that he not retire as a hermit but follow the ecclesiastical career and begin obtaining a doctorate in law.

He was named a domestic prelate of His Holiness[6] and on 21 April 1656 was appointed as the Referendary of the Tribunals of the Apostolic Signature of Justice and of Grace.

On 9 June 1665 he was given a canonicate in the cathedral chapter of Padua without the requirement of residence and in 1656 - at the request of the pope - he organized the assistance to the Romans in the Trastevere area who had been stricken with the plague.

Barbarigo took possession of his new episcopal see on 2 September through his procurators Rodolfo Roncalli the archdeacon and the vice-capitular Giovanni Battista Lavezzali while he himself arrived there on 27 March 1658.

[3] He was a successful bishop and his fame spread through the ranks so much to the point that his old friend Alexander VII elevated him to the cardinalate on 5 April 1660 at the Quirinale Palace.

In his role as a cardinal he participated in his first papal conclave in 1667 and also attended those in 1676 and that of 1689 when he emerged as a potential contender though falling short of the votes needed to become pope.

One of his episcopal acts was to consecrate as a bishop Niels Stensen on 19 September 1677 and he also ordained the convert Thomas Nicholson a priest in Padua.

Cardinal Francesco Maria de' Medici had put his name forth as per an elaborate ruse with the intent of never having Barbarigo elected.

Cardinals Pietro Ottoboni and Paluzzo Paluzzi Altieri were opposed to his candidature and in the end was elected Antonio Pignatelli as Pope Innocent XII.

[2] Cardinal Barbarigo fostered catechetical instruction and he travelled to each village in his diocese in order to teach and to preach to the people.

The report stated that the condition of the body was "wondrous" which fell short of miraculous, a distinction largely lost upon those interested.