Pucci family
Encyclopedia
- For people with the surname Pucci who are or were not members of this family, see PucciPucciPucci may refer to:*Members of the Pucci family, a major Florentine political family**Antonio di Puccio Pucci , Florentine politician and architect**Puccio Pucci , Florentine politician, son of Antonio...
.
The Pucci family was a major political family in Florence
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
.
History
The family surname derives from an ancestor named Jacopo, abbreviated to Jacopuccio, then to Puccio, who was considered wise and frequently called upon to settle disputes - there are records of two such interventions in 1264 and 1287. Their former surname seems to have been Saracini, which explains the presence of a maureMaure
A Maure, since the 11th century, is the symbol of an African head. The term has Phoenician and Greek origins; see Moors.- U Moru :The main symbol in the coat of arms in Corsica is U Moru, Corsican for "The Moor", originally a female Moor blindfolded and wearing a necklace made of beads...
or moor's head on their crest and coat of arms.
The first Pucci family members to be mentioned date to the 13th century with their subscribing to the Arte dei Legnaioli. These early members include Antonio Pucci
Antonio di Puccio Pucci
Antonio di Puccio Pucci was an Italian architect and politician from the Pucci family.-Life:A member of the Arte dei Legnaioli , he was one of the planned architects on the Loggia della Signoria in Florence. In 1381 he was examined and declared fit to take up Republican offices in Florence...
, who worked as an architect on the construction of the Loggia della Signoria. His son Puccio Pucci
Puccio Pucci (politician)
Puccio Pucci was a Florentine politician and the founder of the main branch of the Pucci family....
was a merchant who became rich thanks to trade and financial activities in medieval Florence. The first Pucci residences were in the Santa Croce district of Florence, before they moved to that of the church of San Michele Visdomini
San Michele Visdomini
San Michele Visdomini is a church in the centre of Florence, central Italy. The original church of San Michele was demolished in 1368 to make space for the tribunes of the new Cathedral of Florence. Soon it was rebuilt in its present location to a design by Giovanni di Lapo Ghini, with later facade...
. They were Guelphs and so they were expelled and their houses demolished after the battle of Montaperti
Battle of Montaperti
The Battle of Montaperti was fought on September 4, 1260, between Florence and Siena in Tuscany as part of the conflict between the Guelphs and Ghibellines...
in 1260, though they were soon able to return upon the Ghibellines' explusion from the city. With wealth came political offices such as magistracies, priors and gonfaloniere
Gonfaloniere
The Gonfaloniere was a highly prestigious communal post in medieval and Renaissance Italy, notably in Florence and the Papal States. The name derives from gonfalone, the term used for the banners of such communes....
s - the Pucci family produced a total of 23 priors 8 holders of the post of confaloniere di giustizia.
Constant allies of the Medici
Medici
The House of Medici or Famiglia de' Medici was a political dynasty, banking family and later royal house that first began to gather prominence under Cosimo de' Medici in the Republic of Florence during the late 14th century. The family originated in the Mugello region of the Tuscan countryside,...
during the Renaissance
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
, the Pucci were among the families Cosimo de'Medici called upon as a means of indirectly pursuing his own political interests - trusted Medici allies from the Pucci family included Puccio Pucci
Puccio Pucci (lawyer)
Puccio Pucci was an Italian lawyer and sports official. He was the son of the notary Pietro Pucci, a former director of the Federazione Italiana di Atletica Leggera, who was killed in Libya during the Second World War. Puccio's brother was the designer Emilio Pucci...
, who provided Cosimo with money to improve his living conditions in prison whilst Cosimo was imprisoned prior to being exiled. In the early 16th century the Pucci family's prestige rose yet higher, with it producing three cardinals (Roberto
Roberto Pucci
Roberto Pucci was an Italian cardinal from the Florentine noble family of the Pucci.-Life:One of the Medici's keenest supporters, he nevertheless advised Pope Clement VII against starting the siege of Florence in 1529...
, Lorenzo
Lorenzo Pucci
Lorenzo Pucci was an Italian cardinal and bishop from the Florentine Pucci family. His brother Roberto Pucci and his nephew Antonio Pucci also became cardinals.-Biography:Pucci was born in Florence....
and Antonio Pucci
Antonio Pucci (cardinal)
Antonio Pucci was a Cardinal of the Catholic Church.Antonio Pucci emanated from the Florentine noble family of Pucci. He was a nephew of Cardinals Roberto Pucci and Lorenzo Pucci....
) within a few decades of each other and continuing to be trusted figures in the Medici's ducal and then grand-ducal courts.
However, a momentary bitter break with the Medici came in 1559 when Pandolfo Pucci was ousted from the court of Cosimo I
Cosimo I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany
Cosimo I de' Medici was Duke of Florence from 1537 to 1574, reigning as the first Grand Duke of Tuscany from 1569.-Biography:...
for various slanderous accusations of immorality or (according to other sources) for dreaming of restoring the ancient Republic of Florence
Republic of Florence
The Republic of Florence , or the Florentine Republic, was a city-state that was centered on the city of Florence, located in modern Tuscany, Italy. The republic was founded in 1115, when the Florentine people rebelled against the Margraviate of Tuscany upon Margravine Matilda's death. The...
. Thus, for revenge or ideological reasons, he conspired against Cosimo with the support of other noble Florentine families, intending to fire an arquebus
Arquebus
The arquebus , or "hook tube", is an early muzzle-loaded firearm used in the 15th to 17th centuries. The word was originally modeled on the German hakenbüchse; this produced haquebute...
at Cosimo as he and his retinue walked along the corner of Palazzo Pucci and Via de' Servi to get to the basilica della Santissima Annunziata. The plan had already been shelved, but the Medici intelligence network got wind of it, Pandolfo was hung from a window of the Bargello
Bargello
The Bargello, also known as the Bargello Palace or Palazzo del Popolo is a former barracks and prison, now an art museum, in Florence, Italy.-Terminology:...
and the Pucci's properties were seized. As a memorial to the quashing of the plot, or perhaps out of prudence or superstition, it was decided to brick up the window at the corner where the attack was to have occurred, as can still be seen. The Pucci later made peace with the Medici and Niccolò Pucci regained the Palazzo Pucci and its furnishings.
In 1662 Orazio Roberto Pucci acquired the fiefdom of Barsento (Bari
Bari
Bari is the capital city of the province of Bari and of the Apulia region, on the Adriatic Sea, in Italy. It is the second most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy after Naples, and is well known as a port and university city, as well as the city of Saint Nicholas...
) for 4,000 scudi and obtained the title of Marchese di Barsento, the noble title which has since been handed down through the family. The most recent notable family member has been Emilio Pucci
Emilio Pucci
Emilio Pucci, Marquis of Barsento , was a Florentine Italian fashion designer and politician. He and his eponymous company are synonymous with geometric prints in a kaleidoscope of colours.-Early life:...
, founder of the eponymous post-war fashion house, who became famous (above all in the 1960s and 70s) for more and more fancy but still refined designs. He designed the traditional uniform of the Italian Vigili Urbani with large white gloves and oval beret. His brother Puccio Pucci
Puccio Pucci (lawyer)
Puccio Pucci was an Italian lawyer and sports official. He was the son of the notary Pietro Pucci, a former director of the Federazione Italiana di Atletica Leggera, who was killed in Libya during the Second World War. Puccio's brother was the designer Emilio Pucci...
was also notable, as a sports official for CONI and other organisations. In the 1960s the two brothers split the Palazzo Pucci between them, with Emilio taking the left hand half as the main base for his fashion house and Puccio rebuilding the interior of the central part as a commercial gallery with small craft shops, as it still is today.
Patronage
In 1404 Antonio di Puccio PucciAntonio di Puccio Pucci
Antonio di Puccio Pucci was an Italian architect and politician from the Pucci family.-Life:A member of the Arte dei Legnaioli , he was one of the planned architects on the Loggia della Signoria in Florence. In 1381 he was examined and declared fit to take up Republican offices in Florence...
acquired the chapel of San Sebastiano in the church of Santissima Annunziata
Santissima Annunziata
The Basilica of the Santissima Annunziata Maggiore is a church in Naples in southern Italy.The Annunziatas origins goes back to 1320 and has always been, in one form or another, an orphanage. Remade a first time in the early 16th century, by the mid 17th century, it was a full-fledged home, church,...
, in which he placed the precious Piero del Pollaiolo painting of the Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian
Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian (Piero del Pollaiolo)
The Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian is a work by Piero del Pollaiolo, commissioned by the Florentine Pucci family and now in the National Gallery, London.-History:...
(now in the National Gallery, London
National Gallery, London
The National Gallery is an art museum on Trafalgar Square, London, United Kingdom. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The gallery is an exempt charity, and a non-departmental public body of the Department for Culture, Media...
). Puccio Pucci
Puccio Pucci (politician)
Puccio Pucci was a Florentine politician and the founder of the main branch of the Pucci family....
bought the Cappella della Madonna del Soccorso a few decades later.
The family palazzo still contains one of the four paintings commissioned by Lorenzo the Magnificent from Sandro Botticelli
Sandro Botticelli
Alessandro di Mariano di Vanni Filipepi, better known as Sandro Botticelli was an Italian painter of the Early Renaissance...
as a gift to Giannozzo Pucci on Giannozzo's marriage to Lucrezia Bini
Bini
Bini may refer to:* Bini people, a cultural group in Nigeria* A slang term for the BMW MINI car* Bini, Burkina Faso, a village in Burkina Faso-People:*Aldo Bini , an Italian road bicycle racer...
in 1483. These paintings tell the story of Nastalgio degli Onesti and the first three in the narrative are now in the Prado in Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
. The painting still in Florence shows the use of fork
Fork
As a piece of cutlery or kitchenware, a fork is a tool consisting of a handle with several narrow tines on one end. The fork, as an eating utensil, has been a feature primarily of the West, whereas in East Asia chopsticks have been more prevalent...
s, which were traditionally adopted for the first time in Florence by the Pucci
Pucci
Pucci may refer to:*Members of the Pucci family, a major Florentine political family**Antonio di Puccio Pucci , Florentine politician and architect**Puccio Pucci , Florentine politician, son of Antonio...
and whosa use Catherine de'Medici then spread right across Europe. It also shows the use of precious tableware and silver vessels, which really existed and were said to be from the workshops of Verrocchio and Pollaiolo.
The Pucci commissioned several works for the churches neighbouring their palazzo. For the church of San Michele Visdomini
San Michele Visdomini
San Michele Visdomini is a church in the centre of Florence, central Italy. The original church of San Michele was demolished in 1368 to make space for the tribunes of the new Cathedral of Florence. Soon it was rebuilt in its present location to a design by Giovanni di Lapo Ghini, with later facade...
, in 1518 Francesco Pucci
Francesco Pucci
Francesco Pucci was an Italian philosopher and humanist.-Life:He was of the same family as the Cardinals Lorenzo Pucci, Roberto Pucci, and Antonio Pucci. He worked began in a mercantile house at Lyon and came into contact with the Protestant Reformation...
commissioned Pontormo
Pontormo
Jacopo Carucci , usually known as Jacopo da Pontormo, Jacopo Pontormo or simply Pontormo, was an Italian Mannerist painter and portraitist from the Florentine school. His work represents a profound stylistic shift from the calm perspectival regularity that characterized the art of the Florentine...
to paint the Holy family with saints, which was described by Vasari as one of the best paintings by an empolese painter. Whilst he was archbishop of Bologna, cardinal Antonio Pucci
Antonio Pucci (cardinal)
Antonio Pucci was a Cardinal of the Catholic Church.Antonio Pucci emanated from the Florentine noble family of Pucci. He was a nephew of Cardinals Roberto Pucci and Lorenzo Pucci....
commissioned Raphael
Raphael
Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino , better known simply as Raphael, was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. His work is admired for its clarity of form and ease of composition and for its visual achievement of the Neoplatonic ideal of human grandeur...
to paint a scene of The Ecstacy of Saint Cecilia - still in Bologna
Bologna
Bologna is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna, in the Po Valley of Northern Italy. The city lies between the Po River and the Apennine Mountains, more specifically, between the Reno River and the Savena River. Bologna is a lively and cosmopolitan Italian college city, with spectacular history,...
, it is now at the city's Pinacoteca. At the end of the 16th century Lorenzo Pucci commissioned Alessandro Allori
Alessandro Allori
Alessandro di Cristofano di Lorenzo del Bronzino Allori was an Italian portrait painter of the late Mannerist Florentine school....
to paint a Marriage at Cana as an altarpiece for the church of Sant'Agata (completed 1600).
The family's palazzo was rebuilt by the grand-ducal architect Bernardo Buontalenti
Bernardo Buontalenti
Bernardo Buontalenti, byname of Bernardo Delle Girandole was an Italian stage designer, architect, theatrical designer, military engineer and artist.-Biography:Buontalenti was born in Florence....
in the second half of the 16th century. Between 1585 and 1595 abbot Alessandro Pucci built the Villa di Bellosguardo, to designs by Giovanni Antonio Dosio
Giovanni Antonio Dosio
Giovanni Antonio Dosio was an Italian architect and sculptor.He was born in San Gimignano. A student of Ammanati, with whom he realized the Villa dell'Ambrogiana, Dosio worked primarily in Rome and Florence , with some commissions that took him to Naples.During his early years in Rome, where he...
- it remained a family property until 1858. The Pucci completed the portico of the church of Santissima Annunziata
Santissima Annunziata
The Basilica of the Santissima Annunziata Maggiore is a church in Naples in southern Italy.The Annunziatas origins goes back to 1320 and has always been, in one form or another, an orphanage. Remade a first time in the early 16th century, by the mid 17th century, it was a full-fledged home, church,...
, in a stylistic unity with the piazza outside (the Pucci device is to be seen on the pavement in front of the entrance and on both sides of the portico) - an inscription on the frieze and a plaque on Via Gino Capponi gives its completion date as 1601.
Works linked to the Pucci family
- Palazzo Pucci
- Palazzo Pucci di Ottavio
- Basilica della Santissima AnnunziataSantissima AnnunziataThe Basilica of the Santissima Annunziata Maggiore is a church in Naples in southern Italy.The Annunziatas origins goes back to 1320 and has always been, in one form or another, an orphanage. Remade a first time in the early 16th century, by the mid 17th century, it was a full-fledged home, church,...
- Church of San Michele VisdominiSan Michele VisdominiSan Michele Visdomini is a church in the centre of Florence, central Italy. The original church of San Michele was demolished in 1368 to make space for the tribunes of the new Cathedral of Florence. Soon it was rebuilt in its present location to a design by Giovanni di Lapo Ghini, with later facade...
- Church of Sant'Agata
- Nastagio degli Onesti
- Martyrdom of Saint SebastianMartyrdom of Saint Sebastian (Piero del Pollaiolo)The Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian is a work by Piero del Pollaiolo, commissioned by the Florentine Pucci family and now in the National Gallery, London.-History:...
- Pala Pucci
- Castello di Oliveto (built by the Pucci in the 15th century)
- Villa di Bellosguardo
- Villa Pucci (Villa di Granaiolo)
Notable members
Its members included:- Antonio di Puccio PucciAntonio di Puccio PucciAntonio di Puccio Pucci was an Italian architect and politician from the Pucci family.-Life:A member of the Arte dei Legnaioli , he was one of the planned architects on the Loggia della Signoria in Florence. In 1381 he was examined and declared fit to take up Republican offices in Florence...
(circa 1350–1416), Florentine politician and architect - Puccio PucciPuccio Pucci (politician)Puccio Pucci was a Florentine politician and the founder of the main branch of the Pucci family....
(1389–1449), Florentine politician, son of Antonio - Giannozzo Pucci (15th century), whose marriage to Lucrezia Bini was the occasion for the painting of the Nastagio degli Onesti
- Lorenzo PucciLorenzo PucciLorenzo Pucci was an Italian cardinal and bishop from the Florentine Pucci family. His brother Roberto Pucci and his nephew Antonio Pucci also became cardinals.-Biography:Pucci was born in Florence....
(1458–1531), Italian cardinal - Roberto PucciRoberto PucciRoberto Pucci was an Italian cardinal from the Florentine noble family of the Pucci.-Life:One of the Medici's keenest supporters, he nevertheless advised Pope Clement VII against starting the siege of Florence in 1529...
(1462–1547), Italian cardinal - Antonio Pucci (cardinal)Antonio Pucci (cardinal)Antonio Pucci was a Cardinal of the Catholic Church.Antonio Pucci emanated from the Florentine noble family of Pucci. He was a nephew of Cardinals Roberto Pucci and Lorenzo Pucci....
(1485–1544), Italian cardinal - Francesco Pucci (Florence 1437 - 1518), Florentine politician, commissioned a work from Jacopo Pontormo
- Pandolfo Pucci (died 2 January 1560), responsible for the Pucci plot
- Alessandro Pucci (16th century), abbot, first owner of the Villa di Bellosguardo
- Lorenzo Pucci, (16th-17th century), politician, friend of Alessandro Allori
- Orazio Roberto Pucci (Florence, 1625–1698), first Marchese di Barsento.
- Emilio PucciEmilio PucciEmilio Pucci, Marquis of Barsento , was a Florentine Italian fashion designer and politician. He and his eponymous company are synonymous with geometric prints in a kaleidoscope of colours.-Early life:...
(Naples 1914 - Florence 1992), fashion designer and politician - Puccio PucciPuccio Pucci (lawyer)Puccio Pucci was an Italian lawyer and sports official. He was the son of the notary Pietro Pucci, a former director of the Federazione Italiana di Atletica Leggera, who was killed in Libya during the Second World War. Puccio's brother was the designer Emilio Pucci...
, sports official