HISTORY

Baroncelli,
de’Pazzi affair

Italy is not a land of revolution. If you fight, you will always be wrong. And winners write history, everybody knows that.

Two thousand years ago, Augustus made his first move on behalf of Julius Ceasar. Lorenzo de’ Medici was luckier: he could tell this story himself since the 26th of April 1476.

Yet, Bernardo Bandini Baroncelli stabbed Giuliano de’ Medici on that Sunday, inside Florence Cathedral, Santa Maria del Fiore. He was convinced that people would have rebelled, screaming “Freedom! Freedom!”

That forefather of ours dreamed of stopping a tyranny. Instead, he went down in history as the assassin of Pazzi conspiracy. He was projecting to restore the republic of Florence. Yet Leonardo da Vinci painted him hanging from the gibbet.

giuliano_de_medici_by_sandro_botticelli

HISTORY

Baroncelli,
de’Pazzi affair

Italy is not a land of revolution. If you fight, you will always be wrong. And winners write history, everybody knows that.

Two thousand years ago, Augustus made his first move on behalf of Julius Ceasar. Lorenzo de’ Medici was luckier: he could tell this story himself since the 26th of April 1476.

Yet, Bernardo Bandini Baroncelli stabbed Giuliano de’ Medici on that Sunday, inside Florence Cathedral, Santa Maria del Fiore. He was convinced that people would have rebelled, screaming “Freedom! Freedom!”

That forefather of ours dreamed of stopping a tyranny. Instead, he went down in history as the assassin of Pazzi conspiracy. He was projecting to restore the republic of Florence. Yet Leonardo da Vinci painted him hanging from the gibbet.

History against the flow

What could have happened if Jacopo de’ Pazzi and Bernardo Bandini Baroncelli had defeated de’ Medici family?

Would have they brightened up the republic? Would have they stood in as lords and tyrants in Florence?

Nobody knows. And it doesn’t matter. Of course, even now among Fattoria di Caticciano olive trees and grapevines old stories are echoed. In this place history passed the wrong way through.

From
Otto I
to Giotto

Pazzi conspiracy was the first event of a long series. Baroncelli family owes its coat of arms to Otto I (912-973). History tells us that the emperor himself painted three red strips on a silver shield. This shield belonged to one person from Baroncelli’s family, who died in battle. During the 12th century the forefather Bene Baroncelli had two sons, Folco and Baroncello. They had several sons themselves, which gave birth to different family branches, such as Bandini’s one, from Bandino Baroncelli.

Today, near Piazza della Signoria in Florence, there is Piazza Baroncelli and near the Accademia dei Georgofili, there is chiasso Baroncelli.

In Santa Croce church there is Baroncelli’s chapel, which was painted by Giotto and Taddeo Gaddi.

Silver, red
and Buffalo Bill

In time, our family has always been rediscovering the value of country. In this painting Folco de Baroncelli-Javon (Aix-en-Provence, 1st of November 1869 – Avignon 15th of December 1943) becomes legend. He was a poet and a farmer from Provence, disciple of Frédéric Mistral. He became one of the most important leading figures of Félibrige and father of Camargue myth, based on Camargue tradition. He renovated that tradition, taking inspiration from Buffalo Bill.

We are the heirs of this bulky past. But we want to safeguard the features that make this ancient Tuscan heart unique with our Fattoria di Caticciano.

folco_de_baroncelli-javon

Silver, red
and Buffalo Bill

In time, our family has always been rediscovering the value of country. In this painting Folco de Baroncelli-Javon (Aix-en-Provence, 1st of November 1869 – Avignon 15th of December 1943) becomes legend. He was a poet and a farmer from Provence, disciple of Frédéric Mistral. He became one of the most important leading figures of Félibrige and father of Camargue myth, based on Camargue tradition. He renovated that tradition, taking inspiration from Buffalo Bill.

We are the heirs of this bulky past. But we want to safeguard the features that make this ancient Tuscan heart unique with our Fattoria di Caticciano.