This institution for interest bearing loans ("monte") first was called "Monte di Pietà,", and was begun on 5 September 1753 in today's Via Monte di Pietà, near Via Brera. It was moved in 1782 to the spot indicated by the red dot on the map which corresponds to the street address of Via Montenapoleone 12, now bearing the name Banco Camerale di Santa Teresa.

In 1804, during the brief years of Italian independence called the Cisalpine Republic (but always under the "watchful eye" of the French general, Napoleon Bonaparte), the institution was renamed "Monte Napoleone." Little did the grateful Milanese know that within a year, Napoleon would declare himself emperor, propelling them back into subjugation, first under himself, then back under the Austrians after he fell at Waterloo. The Italians only achieved permanent independence in the mid-19th-century. The Renaissance revival ("Neo-Renaissance") in Italy, both before and after independence, was an outpouring of patriotism, and is fully exemplified in the Bagatti Valsecchi mansion.