Illegitimate son of Venetian nobleman Alvise Badoer, and veteran and hero of the Siege of Candia, Count Camillo Badovero (or Badoer, also known as Honorato Castelnovo and Colonel Costantino Castelnovo) was a Knight of Malta, a doctor of the two Laws and a nobleman from the Holy Roman Empire. After several stays in European courts, particularly in Paris and Spain, he settled in Venice circa 1660. He likely worked there as a spy in France, for the Republic of Venice, and as an informant for the Roman Inquisition, at least from 1671 to 1688. He was a poet bound to the Duke of Mantua Ferdinando Carlo, and one of his closest advisers. He was also bound to the Duchy of Savoy; he is thought to be the author of a historical and geographical study of the Kingdom of Spain for the Duchess of Savoy.

Well-informed because of his work in artistic productions of his time, he wrote several plays, including Sesto Tarquinion, a dramma per musica published in 1679. He was likely aware that Giulio Rospigliosi’s opera for puppets La Comica del Cielo was popular with the Roman aristocracy in 1668, and he was also likely familiar with Filippo Acciaiuoli’s performances in Rome – he may even have attended them. Building his plays on this model, he was the first to perform an opera for puppets in Venice in 1679, Il Leandro. He left the city in 1680 to flee from his creditors.