L'Italo-Americano

www.italoamericano.org 8 THURSDAY, DECEMBER 26, 2019 L'Italo-Americano LIFE PEOPLE PLACES HERITAGE O n December 9, an earthquake rattled the Mugello region of Tuscany, some 19 miles northeast of Florence. The frightened locals poured into the street in the middle of the night but, luck- ily, nobody got injured. The seis- mic shocks opened up cracks in buildings and damaged the church of St. Sylvester in the town of Barberino di Mugello, one of the ten villages that form the peaceful rural area near the Apennine Mountains known as Comunità Montana del Mugel- lo. Tourists and visitors are always surprised by how much authentic culture they find in this beautiful, unexplored and roman- tic area of Tuscany. The munificent Medici, a great aristocratic family of the Renaissance, originated from here. Those very influential mer- chants and bankers came from Campiano , a hamlet in the municipality of Barberino del Mugello. Even though Florence, with Palazzo Medici Riccardi, Palazzo Vecchio and Palazzo Pitti, was their cradle of power, their fabulous mansions were everywhere: north, west of Florence and above Florence, such as the grandiose Villa in Fiesole. The House of Medici left a tangible mark in the Mugello Valley that meant something to them no other country could. They were in love with this locale that gave them birth. They were intoxicated by these ver- dant hills north of Florence. The gentle hills, the vineyards and the Bilancino Lake were the landscape of their emotions. These days, Rai Italia televi- sion is airing the third install- ment of the international co-pro- duction "Medici: Masters of Florence" TV series —the show is out as a Netflix original in North America. This made me dream of the political dynasty that lorded over a flourishing Italian art scene. Avid for art and culture, the Medici patronized Botticelli, Leonardo and Michelangelo, they financed the invention of the piano and opera, funded the construction of Saint Peter's Basilica and Santa Maria del Fiore. They were a sort of mod- ern tink tank: they hired, funded and sponsored the brightest peo- ple, including Machiavelli and Galileo. But their deep roots are in these scenes of rural placidity. From Mugello, they prospered gradually until they were able to fund the Medici Bank of Florence, the largest in Europe during the 15th century, a pio- neer of the double-entry book- keeping that revolutionized banking, and an anticipator of other crucial elements of modern finance. In Campiano, a hamlet in the municipality of Barberino di Mugello, sits the little Church of Santa Maria. It houses a stone- made tabernacle ornamented with a bas relief sculpture of the Medici coat of arms— five red balls and one blue on a gold shield. Villa Cafaggiolo, their sum- mer residence is nearby. Otherwise known as the Medici Castle of Cafaggiolo, the impressive villa was given Unesco world heritage status in 2003. In 1451, Cosimo il Vecchio (1389-1464), the first in the family line to act as de facto ruler of Florence, commissioned the architect Michelozzo to design this delightful villa, which became the favorite coun- try retreat of Cosimo's grandson, Lorenzo De' Medici, called the Magnificent (1449-92). The preeminent Renaissance man gathered writers, painters, philosophers and popes as friends in these rooms. Pico della Mirandola, recognized as the father of Renaissance Humanism, was an habitué. Poet Luigi Pulci used to read his book Il Morgante and the whole room was cheering. The human- ist Poliziano sojourned in this space. And so did Marsilio Ficino, a founding member of Florence's Neoplatonist Academy and a translator of Plato, who promoted a synthesis of classical philosophy and Christian theology that became a hallmark of Renaissance human- ism. Lorenzo here composed sonnets and his Canti Carnascialeschi or carnival songs. I can almost hear his laughter echoing about the stone walls. Later, in 1576, Piero de'Medici stabbed his wife Eleonora di Toledo in a room on the third floor. Lorenzo the Magnificent spent some time in another ham- let of Barberino called Cavallina because he enjoyed staying at Villa Torre Il Pelagio, owned by the Pulci family. In this luxe house overlooking the lake Bilancino, he wrote La Nencia da Barberino, a poem dedicated to a local beauty. A few minutes away sits the Convento del Bosco ai Frati, a friary from the X century that Cosimo The Elder had rebuilt according to Michelozzo's design. This was Cosimo' s favorite spiritual place, where he sat in prayer. The patronage of the Medici brought important works of art to this place, includ- ing a Donatello's wooden cruci- fix. In the nearby municipality of Scamperia, sits the imposing Palazzo dei Vicari, the resi- dence of the governor that also housed the Justice office for the Florentine Republic in the vast Mugello region. Its façade is decorated with the Medici' s coats of arms. Here, they appointed members of loyal fam- ilies as Viceroys. In a minute, you enter a coun- try road that leads to the summit of a hill where the Castello del Trebbio sits, in the hamlet of San Piero a Sieve, overlooking the Mugello parkland. The gor- geous castle was used by Lorenzo The Magnificent as a private hunting ground. In 1476, a young Amerigo Vespucci fled from plague-ridden Florence to take refuge here. And the most noted soldier of all the Medici dynasty, Giovanni dalle Bande Nere or Black Bands (1498- 1526), lived here long. MARIELLA RADAELLI The Medici, the greatest Florentine family in history, hailed from the Campiano in the Mugello area, where some of their residences still stand (Copyright: Archivio Unione Montana dei Comuni del Mugello) Bucolic Mugello, motherland of the Medici family

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