Domenico Balestrieri was born in Milan on the 16th of April 1714, the son of Giuseppe Balestrieri and Isabella Maganze. He studied literature with the Barnabites and philosophy with the Jesuits at the Brera College in Milan, in opposition to his father's intention to make him study law. Although certainly not physically gifted by nature (he was short and thickset), he instead excelled for his intellectual sharpness and vivacity which made him become the 'darling' of the Milanese salons in which he read his compositions with considerable success.
In order to make fun of the fashion of his day with regard to poetical collections, in 1738 he asked the most important poets of his day to write poems in memory of his dead cat. The numerous works which his solicitation produced formed part of the collection entitled Gatteide , published in 1741.
He was also a member of the Accademia dei Trasformati.
In 1744 he published his Rimm milanese . 1746 saw his nomination as Registrar of the Extraordinary Magistrate for the victualling-board of the Royal Ducal Chamber of Milan, a position he held for the rest of his life.
The following year he married Rosalia Casati from whom he had numerous offspring.
In 1772 he published La Gerusalemme liberata ridotta in versi milanesi , in 1774 Le rimm milanes del Meneghin Balestrieri Accademegh Trasformaa and in 1774-1775 his Le rime toscane . He died on the 11th of June 1780.
Together with Porta and Maggi, Domenico Balestrieri - an extremely talented writer of verse possessing an unexceptionable technique - was among the most important poets of the eighteenth-century Milanese language and bard of villa entertainment and amusement.
Prior to 1769 he sojourned for three consecutive years in Varese.
The poems he wrote in honour of his hosts, and to celebrate their generosity, remain the testimony of the life which the Milanese nobility led during the stays in their summer homes of the Varese region.