"Another Chevalier, Bernardo Serzelli in 1695 granted it from Marco di Alessandro Quaglini and from his wife Maria Maddalena Dionigi" (Carocci, 1907). The Serzelli were an ancient florentine family that lived in “Gonfalone 3 del Bue” in Santa Croce area. It's coat of arms had three red cylinders on a silver background. In the 14th century the Serzelli bought the Altomena castle, in Pelago. Their family had priors4 and gonfalonieri5 but died out in 1803 and the Bardi family inherited their assets. According to Lensi Orlandi, in 1823 the villa was sold to Battista di Domenico Niccolini (Marquis of Camugliano's cadet branch). According to other documents in 1850 it was bought by Giovanni Battista (di Ippolito) Niccolini. Giovanni Battista Niccolini (1782-1861) was a famous poet and writer of the XIX century. He is buried in Santa Croce Church .His monumental tomb is decorated with a famous sculpture that inspired August Bartholdi for his Statue of Liberty. He wrote the tragedy Mario and the Cimbri in this villa. The villa was inherited by Marquess Giulia Fioravanti in 1878. Fioravanti is a noble family of Pistoia (town of Toscany) . His coat of arms is blue with a band, on top three lilies and below three stars with six rays. The family had members in Florence and in many other italian cities. They were an important family since the middle age. They were members of the Guelph party and were allied with Cancellieri family. In 1267 in Pistoia they had a municipal councilor, Fioravante d'Accorso; his son Ranieri was even podestà6. Giovanni di Puccio di Ranieri was one of the bankers of Pope Clement V in Avignon (1305-1314). In Florence, Francesco di Ranieri was “gonfaloniere” of the Republic from 1385 to 1389 and his son Neri was “gonfaloniere” in 1428. Some of their members were Knights of Santo Stefano and Knights of Malta and held important church and military positions. The family still exists today. In recent times (1970?) the villa was bought by the pasta industrial business man Fioravanti. They were homonymous of the marqueses Fioravanti. In 2022 Mr. Roland Antony Ooi from Singapore bought the Villa and the
In order: Fig. 5 | Fioravanti's coat of arm located in the south-west living room of the villa Fig. 6 | Cavalcanti's coat of arm Fig. 7 | Sinibaldi's coat of arm Fig. 8 | Serzelli's coat of arm Fig. 9 | Niccolini's coat of arm
3 Gonfalone del Bue” literally means the ward of the Ox. Florence, in the medieval time was an independent Republic (Commune). The town was administrated dividing the area in 4 districts (quartieri) and 16 wards (gonfaloni). Gonfalone del Bue was a ward in the district of Santa Croce. 4 Priors were the prime minister of the Commune/Republic of Florence 5 Gonfalonieri were the minister of justice of the Commune 6 Podestà in medieval Italian communes, the highest judicial and military magistrate
Villa Fioravanti in Bellosguardo | Historical and typological notes
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