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| Famous figures |
Court dignitaries, painters, architects, sculptors and talented men of all description, from the middle ages up until today: this is Colle di Val d'Elsa's legacy to the world.
Let's look at some of the town's more famous residents to find out more about this historical and cultural legacy.
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ARNOLFO DI CAMBIO (1245 ca - 1302 ca)
Arnolfo Di Cambio was born in Colle di Val d'Elsa in 1245, or thereabouts, but we know nothing about his childhood, except the fact that he was Niccolò Pisano's best pupil.
Considered the greatest architect of his day by the Seignory of Florence, he built Palazzo Vecchio, the Church of S. Croce, the Church of La Badia, the Florentines' fortresses at Castel S. Giovanni, Castelfranco, and, more importantly, Terranuova in the upper Arno valley, as well as, perhaps, the design for Orvieto Cathedral itself.
Only in his native town of Colle di Val d'Elsa did he fail to leave a trace of his art, except for the Spugna bridge nd the S. Marziale bridge, which have now disappeared.
Along with Dante and Giotto, Arnolfo di Cambio was one of the glorious Florentine trio who, between the 13th and the 14th centuries, elevated Italian art to new heights.
See the section on the life of Arnolfo di Cambio for further information.
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CENNINO CENNINI
The only information we have about Cennino Cennini comes from the very brief autobiographical references found scattered throughout his greatest work, the "Book of Art" ("Libro dell'arte"), as well as the scant reports by Vasari in his life of Agnolo Gaddi, with not much else besides.
From all this information taken together, we gather that Cennini was born in Colle Val d'Elsa at an unspecifed date.
In 1388 we find him hard at work on the frescoes of episodes in the life of Santo Stefano in the church of San Lucchese, near Poggibonsi.
Later he moved to Padua, where he was "family painter to the magnificent Lord" Francesco da Carrara.
The only documented date in his life is 1398, when he was certainly in Padua, although he must have arrived there a long time before that, and where he resided in the S. Pietro district.
It was almost certainly while in Padua that he wrote his "Libro dell'Arte", the most famous surviving treatise on artistic techniques.
The success of this work, which probably originated in the context of one of the powerful corporations which used to regulate and safeguard the work of painters (one theory is that it is a sort of reference manual, if not a full statute, of the guild of painters in Padua), dates above all to the last two centuries, when it became a sort of totem, a manifesto of painting beginning with Giotto, the "great master" who, according to the words of the painter from Colle di Val d'Elsa, "changed the art of painting from Greek to Latin, and reduced it to the modern."
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BARTOLOMEO SCALA (1430-1497)
The son of Giovan Francesco, a miller from Calcinaria near Onci, he was born in 1430. A doctor in civil and religious law, he was secretary in Florence of the Dieci della Guerra, and was made an honorary citizen of Florence.
He was also an ambassador of the Republic to Pope Innocent VIII, who made him a Knight of the Order of the Golden Spur, a Senator of Rome, and an Apostolic Secretary.
Described by many people as "the eminence grise of Lorenzo il Magnifico", his prestige and merits earned him the title Gonfalonier (Standard-Bearer) of the Republic of Florence.
Works he wrote include: the "Inaugural Oration to Pope Innocent VIII", "Address to the people of Florence on the handover of the military flags of the Republic of Florence to Captain Costanzo Sforza", "One hundred defenses of morality", "Four books of Florentine histories", a "Life of Vitaliano Borromeo", and the "Apologia contro vituperatos Civitatis Florentiae".
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FRANCESCO CAMPANA (1491 ca -1546 ca)
A doctor in civil and religious law, he was adviser and secretary to Duke Alessandro de' Medici, the Duke of Urbino, and secretary to Clement VII and Duke Cosimo.
He went to London, in England, in 1528 on the occasion of the English schism, as ambassador to Henry VIII, and to Genoa as the ambassador to Emperor Charles V.
He was secretary of the Republic of Florence and Minister at the Congress of Nice.
He illustrated the most difficult passages of Virgil's "Aeneid", entitling his work "Virgiliana Quaestio". It was printed in Florence in 1526, in Milan in 1540, and in Paris in 1546.
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USIMBARDO USIMBARDI (1552-1612)
A pious and learned clergyman, he was Canon of the Florence Metropolitan, and later first Bishop of Colle, his home town, from 1592-1612.
In the town he began the construction of the Cathedral, which was continued and completed by his successor, M. Cosimo della Gherardesca.
He published the first Synod for the Diocese of Colle in Florence, for Sermontelli.
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FERDINANDO MOROZZI (1723-1785)
In the 18th century Ferdinando Morozzi, a nephew of PierAntonio, was the leading cartographer in Tuscany.
He was a hydraulic engineer, and dealt with the state of the river Arno ("Report on the ancient and modern state of the river Arno" - Florence - 1766) and wrote an architectural treatise on the homes of country folk (1770) and the "Memoirs of the ecclesiastical, civil, and literary history of Colle di Val d'Elsa" (Florence - 1755).
He also drew a large number of maps and geographical plans of all of Tuscany.
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VITTORIO MEONI (1859-1937)
A painter and writer, for over 20 years he was the leading exponent of socialism in Colle and the region.
He was the editor of "La Martinella", the organ of the Socialist Party, helping to make Colle the first Socialist municipality in Tuscany, and one of the very first in all of Italy.
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ROMANO BILENCHI (1909-1989)
Romano Bilenchi was born in Colle di Val d'Elsa in 1909 and collaborated on Mino Maccari's magazine "Il Selvaggio", and later on "Il Bargello" and on "L'Universale".
After WW2 he was editor for the Florence-based newspaper "La Nazione", and later editor-in-chief of the left-wing newspaper "Il Nuovo Corriere" from its foundation (1948) until its demise (1956).
He achieved attention as a rigorous story-teller who wrote in a clear style, in which, moving beyond the limits of artistic prose, his exemplary stories of town life and country life strike a balance between recollection, imagination, and careful observation.
His many works include "Il capofabbrica" (1935), "Conservatorio di Santa Teresa" (1940), "La siccità" (1941), "Dino e altri racconti" (1942), "Mio cugino Andrea" (1943), "Racconti" (1958), "Il bottone di Stalingrado" (1972), and "Il gelo" (1982).
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MINO MACCARI (1898-1989)
Born in Siena in 1898 from a family from Colle, Maccari was a painter, writer and draughtsman of world renown.
At the age of 19 he saw service in the Great War as an artillery officer in the field.
In 1920 he graduated in Law, and began to work in Colle di Val d'Elsa.
In 1922 he took part in "March on Rome", being an enthusiastic supporter of fascism, and in 1924 he was called in by Angiolo Bencini to work on the publication of "Il Selvaggio", a fascist-style newspaper of political satire which was founded in Colle di Val d'Elsa.
In 1926 he left the legal profession and became Director of "Il Selvaggio" until 1942.
In 1925 the editorial offices of "Il Selvaggio" moved to Florence, where its collaborators included Ardengo Soffici, Ottone Rosai, and Achille Lega.
In 1927 Maccari took part in the 2nd International Exposition of Modern Engraving and at the 3rd Exposition of Tuscan Art and Design Union. The following year he was present at the 16th Venice Biennale.
At the start of the 1930s he was chief editor of "La Stampa" in Turin, alongside its editor-in-chief, Curzio Malaparte.
In 1932 "Il Selvaggio" moved to Rome.
In 1938 he was invited to the 21st Venice Biennale with a personal show, and collaborated on Longanesi's "Omnibus".
In 1943 he had a one-man show in Rome's Palazzo Massimo, and he exhibited his work at the Dux al Cinquale show in Montignoso.
At the end of the 1940s he began his collaboration on the liberal magazine "Il Mondo", directed by Pannunzio, which ended in 1963.
In 1962 he took on the chairmanship of the Accademia dei Lincei. Afterward, he had a continuous string of exhibitions and shows, starting in 1963, when he held a one-man show in New York at Gallery 63, until his death.
For more informations: www.minomaccaricolle.it
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"Those who write clearly find readers; those who write in an obscure way find commentators."
Albert Camus, Writer (1913-1960)
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