A marble plaque on a house’s exterior can be seen as you continue along via de ‘Giraldi and arrive at the historic church of S. Procolo. It turns out that three of the most important reporters in Florentine history lived in this marble inscription: “Giovanni, Matteo, and Filippo Villani had their homes here and the Florentine chronicles dictated there.” This edifice, which is situated at the intersection of Via de ‘Giraldi and Via dei Pandolfini, has been owned by the Villani family since the fourteenth century. Bernardino Barbatelli, a painter known as Poccetti because of his passion for wine (to be “caught” means to drink), was commissioned by the Villani at the end of the sixteenth century.
Giuseppe Bezzuoli, a painter who was engaged on the interior design of the Borghese casino, was commissioned to create a new fresco because the old one had nearly entirely disintegrated. The Madonna and Child was painted in the neoclassical style inside the tabernacle. The child Jesus is shown in a “relaxed” pose with a little thong that covers and does not cover, which is the main reason the piece was condemned despite its stillness.
