Below is a translation of "Firenze 1636 e 1637 - Conti di gioco del granduca Ferdinando I," at https://www.naibi.net/A/8-33-GRANDUCA.pdf,
dated Sept. 30, 2024. The title is self-explanatory, but does it refer
to accounts of the Grand Duke's gambling, or something else?
Comments in brackets are mostly mine, after consultation with Franco. A
few are by Franco, indicated as "note by FP." Numbers by themselves on
the left are the page numbers of Franco's pdf, and the footnotes are at
the bottom of each page.
Florence 1636 and 1637 - Gambling accounts of Grand Duke Ferdinand II
Franco Pratesi
1. Introduction
The State Archives of Florence (ASFi) are an inexhaustible source of
information on the many members of the Medici families who played
prominent roles first in the Florentine Republic and finally in the
Grand Duchy. Here I examine a file containing a few accounting papers of
Grand Duke Ferdinand II. [note 1] Not surprisingly, given that it is kept in the Miscellanea
collection, the document is part of an archival unit with fifty files
on various subjects, with no obvious connections between them, other
than that they all come from the Medici secretariats or the Grand Ducal
offices.
In this study, the figures of interest are the “serenissimi fratelli”
[most serene brothers] Medici, among whom Ferdinando and Giovan Carlo,
the first and second sons of Grand Duke Cosimo II, appear explicitly
here, together with their uncle Lorenzo. For them, in the years
considered here, there are also many documents in the ASFi, starting
with their rich correspondence. Many scholars have examined them, and
books and articles have been published on the subject since the
nineteenth century in quantities difficult even to imagine. As far as I
understand, however, attention has always been partial.
For example, in the period in question, the importance of the Florentine
court for the history of the theater is well known. So it is not
surprising that recently the documents of the ASFi have also been the
object of meticulous research by Florentine university researchers, but
with useful contributions also from foreign scholars. I will only
mention the book of which I have already used part of the title and
which will also be useful to me later. [note 2]
Among other things, the author continued this research by coordinating
that of numerous students with entire series of master's and doctoral
theses that followed one another over the course of decades at the
University of Florence. A particular, related case is that of the
interest of the Medici family members themselves in the history of
music, a sector in which studies also abound, as one might expect since
Florence had a pioneering role at the time with considerable
innovations.
Another very important sector is that of fine arts. Especially Giovan
Carlo was a well-known collector of statues and paintings, carefully
selected. But our Medici were surrounded by the best painters of the
time also for the decoration of their famous villas in the surroundings
of Florence. Furthermore, the architectural aspect of the same villas
must be considered, which therefore attracted the attention of other
historians who sifted through the documents of the ASFi, obtaining as
usual numerous publications also on this sector.
We could continue considering further aspects of court life, such as to
reveal other historical interests that can be deduced from the ASFi
documents. For example, hunting, which was an activity that often filled
the days of the princes during their stays in the country villas.
Closer to the topic of our interest are the public festivals and games,
which partly continued ancient traditions, partly presented new aspects.
In the squares, jousts, palios, and various shows took place; in
particular, as a game, and a public show at the same time, we must
remember that of football, played at the time by a small circle of
nobles.
The problem is that thus far I have not been able to find any detailed
study based on the same documents and correspondence, but dedicated to
the private gaming activity of the period. It would seem that people no
longer gambled and that the Council of Trent had managed to burn all the
dice, cards, and even the boards and chess sets, in the manner that had
been seen in Florence when Bernardino of Siena had passed through.
An intriguing fact is that, for example, Giovan Carlo de' Medici
remained famous not only as a patron but also as a great pleasure-seeker
and libertine, passionate about art, but also women, parties, and
games. Several of the Medici had been known to favor gambling in all its
forms, but it would seem that for Giovan Carlo the Council of Trent did
not exist, and perhaps not even for the Pope, who in 1644 made him
Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church.
______________________
1. ASFi, Miscellanea Medicea, Scatola 264, Fasc. 28 [Medicean Miscellany, Box 264, File 28].
2. S. Mamone, Serenissimi fratelli principi impresari [Most Serene Brothers Princes Impresarios]. Florence 2003.
2
In short, I regret that the document I am presenting here is not
inserted into a known context. I also do not exclude that the same
document is already well known to scholars and that some of them have
already been able to comment on it more validly than I am able to here.
After all, the series of archival units in which this document is
inserted is part of a fund already explored countless times, and in the
smallest details, by many scholars.
2. Economic and accounting considerations
Considering the nature of the document, an accounting premise may be
useful for a better evaluation of its content. In Florence, accounting
was kept with the traditional system of lire, soldi, denari, in which
twelve denari made up a soldo and twenty soldi made up a lira. When the
gold florin was introduced, the new currency was directly linked to this
system, with one florin equivalent to one lira. Subsequently, the
correspondence between florin and lira varied over time with a
continuous appreciation of the gold coin, until in 1533, the florin of
the Florentine Republic was replaced by the new gold scudo ‒ with the
Medici balls replacing the lily ‒ which also had other variants or names
such as zucchini and ducato. In the document under examination, the name scudo appears, which remained the most common in accounting for the following centuries.
With the introduction of the florin and then the scudo, accounting
became four-digit, due to the introduction of an additional figure at
the beginning. In the era of interest, the scudo was already worth seven
lire, and continued to maintain this ratio for a couple of centuries.
An advantage of the system could be that any figure could be divided
into identical parts, without remainder, for all the divisors from one
to ten. Therefore, when reading the figures in the document, one must
remember that our tenths do not appear and that to move to a unit
further to the left, 12 denari, 20 soldi, and 7 lire will be needed,
respectively. For this reason, I believe it is useful to keep the colons
separating the figures in the transcription, as can be read in the
original, instead of the usual full stops [i.e. periods, in American
English].
Again, to evaluate the content, it is not enough to understand the
basics of accounting but it seems necessary also to have an idea of the
value of the figures indicated, that is, how much a Florentine scudo was
worth in those years. There will certainly be conversion tables that
allow one to read directly how many euros today a gold scudo of those
years was equivalent to, but up to now, I have not found any. On a
private site on the Internet, [note 3] a
value of the scudo equal to 162 euros is obtained, based on how much
the quantity of gold present in the coin would be worth today, but at
the same time it is warned [by that same author] that this method cannot
be reliable.
To better understand the value of the scudo at the time, I then thought
of examining another manuscript from a collection that I have been
exploring for some time. [note 4] It
is a series of Estimates, that is, evaluations by official appraisers of
the economic value of the inheritances of the wards. There are many
different cases from years close in time, but especially from real
estate, both in the city and in the countryside.
As for houses, obviously, the estimated prices vary greatly depending on
the size and location. On average, excluding extraordinary cases, a
city house can be considered to be worth roughly 200 to 1,500 scudi, and
100 to 400 for a country house. For the countryside, the estimate is
usually more varied because in addition to that of the main house, there
are estimates of huts and accessory buildings and, above all, of
numerous small pieces of land located nearby; therefore, instead of one
figure, we read up to a dozen, with many that are limited to a few dozen
scudi. In conclusion, it does not seem too risky to assume as an order
of magnitude that one scudi of those years was equivalent to a thousand
euros today.
However, it is clear that the method of considering real estate as a
measurement of valuation is also fundamentally wrong. In fact, it seems
completely impossible, for example, that, in the document under
examination, something like two thousand euros of today was offered as
alms to a “poor girl,” and even a little less than 44 thousand to “a
poor man.” From the document under consideration, one would say that a
scudo was worth roughly ten euros, or even just one. In short, the
confirmation I was looking for did not confirm anything at all and
leaves us undecided about the value of the scudo, even between several
orders of
_________________
3. https://www.itrecipressi.it/scudo.html
4. ASFi, Magistrato dei Pupilli del Principato, Filza 2726 [Magistracy of Minors of the Principality, File 2726].
3
magnitude. In any case, the figures in the document are those; the correct equivalences can be found later.
3. The document of 1636
[Translator’s note: this is mostly a literal translation with only an
occasional comment on the language, leaving the interpretation for
Franco in section 6. In the first sentence below, I use the plural
“Monies” for “Denari”; ordinarily, when not referring to the specific
unit of Italian currency, the translation would be “Money”; but in a
financial statement like this one, the English “Monies” seems more
appropriate. In this transcription, the dots are in place of the spaces
that appear in the original document, as the THF software does not
appear to allow spaces other than those to separate words.]
_________________......[f. 1r] Output [Uscita] and Input [Entrata] of Monies of S.A.S. [his most serene highness] of Gambling [del Gioco, literally “of the Game”]
......1636 and 1637
……[f. 2r] Input
……Of Monies [Denari] Collected of the [del] Gambling of S.A.S.
……On day 12 July 1636 [i.e., On the 12th of July 1636]
From Francesco Conti received in Cash [Contanti]............................Sc. 5615
And more Coin [Moneta] from the [dal] above ...................................Sc. -:5:15
And more from the above-said, Dobli [note 5]
……N° 1707 at L.19:13:4 each ..................... .................. .................Sc. 4795:6
And more from the above-said Monies ...............................................Sc. 20:2:5
……On day 20 said [i. e., On the 20th of said month, in this case, July]
From the above-said in Cash ..............................................................Sc. 1682
……On day 10 August
From the above-said in Cash ..............................................................Sc. 5519
……On day 13 October
From Sig. Marchese Nicolini in Cash ..................................................Sc. 561:6:6:8
……On day 19 said
From Francesco Conti in Cash ............,...............................................Sc. 200
............................................................................................................-------------------
............................................................................................................Sc. 14394:6:6:8
[f. 3r] Output
Of Monies of Gambling of S.A.S.
On day 19 July 1636
To S.A.S. Dobli N° 35 at L. 19:13:4 .................................................Sc. 98:2:6:8
And more Coin ................................................................................Sc. 1:4:13:4
……On day 20 said
To the Cards of the Chamber Assistants of
…Sig. Prince Giovan Carlo...............................................................Sc. 82
And more to the Chamber-Boy of Above-said Prince.......................Sc. 2
……On day 23 said
To Sig. Marquis Paolo del Buffalo in Cash........................................Sc. 3232:3:6:8
And more Dobli N° 49 at L 19:13:4 each to the above-said. .............Sc. 137:4:13:4
……On day 26 said
To Francesco Conti in Cash for Gambling [per il Gioco]…....….........Sc. 566
……On day First August
Consigned To S.A.S. dobli N° 1421 at L. 19:13:4
….and more Coin Sc 1:3:13:4 ..........................................................Sc. 3993:6
……On day 10 said
To the Cards of the Chamber Assistants of
….Sig. Prince above-said...................................................................Sc. 70
......On day 14 said
Paid by order of S.A.S. to Sig. March. Nicolini .................................Sc. 100
......On day 16 said
5. More commonly dobla, a gold coin introduced in Spain and later also in several Italian states.
4
5To Francesco Conti in Cash for Gambling...........................................Sc. 1664
.............................................................................................................. -----------
..............................................................................................................Sc. 9948
[f. 3v] The Sum above follows...............................................................Sc. 9948
On day 23 August 1636
To Francesco Conti in Cash for Gambling..............................................Sc. 32
......On day 25 said
By order of S.A.S. be paid in Cash
....to Felice Gamberaio ...........................................................................Sc. 50
By order of S.A.S. be paid to
....Remigio Cantagallina in Cash ............................................................Sc. 80
......On day 26 said
By order of S.A.S. be paid to
...Bartolomeo Piggi Pistolesi in Cash.......................................................Sc. 40
......On day 30 said
....To Francesco Conti in Cash for Gambling...........................................Sc. 976
......On day 12 September
To Francesco Conti in Cash for Gambling.................................................Sc. 400
......On day 15 said
By order of S.A.S. be paid in Cash to
....Antonio Paolsanti .................................................................................Sc. 150
To Sig. Princ. Don Lorenzo in Cash .........................................................Sc. 100
To Sig. Cav. Castaldi in Cash....................................................................Sc. 40
On day 10 October
To Francesco Conti in Cash for
....Gambling at Mezzomonte.....................................................................Sc. 130
And more was paid to the Account of Gambling at Artimina....................Sc. 30:3
..................................................................................................................-----------
.................................................................................................................Sc.11976:3
[f. 4r] The Sum above follows .................................................................Sc.11976:3
......On day 12 October 1636
To Ipolito Paggio di Valligg.a of [di] S.A.S. for Account of the
....Game of Maglio [Mallet] Paid in Cash ................................................Sc. 48:2
To above-said paid in Cash for the Game of Paloncino [Balloon]...........Sc. 33
......On day 17 said [in the margin: said Fra Paolo - note by FP]
By order of S.A.S. is paid in Cash to
....Sig. Captain Tiberio Squilletti ...............................................................Sc. 2000
......On day 20 said
To Sig. Cav. Castaldi paid in Cash for Gambling.......................................Sc. 33:2
......On day 23 said
By order of S.A.S. be paid in Cash to
....Filippo Bobi Arquebusier for so many Barrels
....Sold to S.A.S. ..........................................................................................Sc. 100
......On day 9 November
By order of S.A.S. is paid in Cash to
....Giuliano Pandolfini, for an Ordered Stone
....Picture, which shows Saint Bonaventure..................................................Sc. 160
......On day said
By order of the S.A.S. is made to a poor man
....for Alms ...........................................................................................Sc. 43:6:6:8
.................................................................................................................-------------
.................................................................................................. ........Sc.14394:6:6.8
[At the bottom]
S.A. has understood, and it is well
Andrea Cioli 19 April 1637
There follow two written pages, one relating to the loan to Captain
Tommaso di Bernardo Carbonati of Arezzo, to be repaid in monthly
installments, and one relating to the account and receipt for ammunition
supplied by Filippo Bobi.
4. The document of 1637
The 1637 account is shorter than the previous one (three pages instead
of four), and all the figures reported are indicated only in scudi,
without fractions. I reproduce the last page and transcribe everything.
(Reproduction prohibited)
6
7......[f. 7r] Input
Monies [Denari] Collected from the Chamber of the Most Serene Prince
....Gio. Carlo, brought [by] messer Francesco Conti...............................Sc. 1326
Monies collected from the Chamber of the Most Serene Prince
....D. Lorenzo brought [by] messer Breveri ….........................................Sc. 1226
......On day 13 September
Monies collected from the Chamber of the Most Serene Prince.
....D. Lorenzo brought [by] messer Cosimo Breveri …............................Sc. 294
......On day 26 said
Received from Sig. Benedetto Guerrini ..................................................Sc. 300
......On day 24 October
From Sig. Antonio Paolsanti Luchardesi, to Account
....which Captain Tomaso Carbonati owes of scudi
....one hundred and fifty to S.A.S. received to good Account ..................Sc. 80
......................................................................................................................----------
....................................................................................................................Sc. 3226
[f. 8r] Output
......On day 30 July 1637
To Sig. Cav. Castaldi ..................................................................................Sc. 286
......On day 2 August
To Sig. Agnolo Ricci for a Necklace ...........................................................Sc. 100
......On day 4 August
To Sig. Agnolo Ricci for tip to give to the
....Tindori(?) who performed at the Comedia ..............................................Sc. 100
......On day 8 August
To Sig. Alberto Coppola for the prints of the Comedia ................................Sc. 100
......On day 8 said
Paid to Benedetto Conti for Gambling .........................................................Sc. 634
......On day 10 saidPaid to Fabbio for Gambling........................................................................Sc. 24......On day 23 said
To an Englishman who gave certain Dogs ..................................................Sc. 50
......day 24 said
To the Nuns of Santa Clara for alms ...........................................................,Sc. 32
......On day 29 said
To the Chamber Assistants of Sig. Prince D. Lorenzo
....For Cards...................................................................................................Sc. 40
......On day 31 said
Paid to Tramontana Groom of S.A. for two
....Paintings by a Flemish painter .................................................................Sc. 14
..................................................................................................................... ------------
......................................................................................................................Sc. 1380
[f. 8v] The Sum above follows......................................................................Sc. 1380
......On day First September 1637
To Sister Lucrezia Malaspina for a full Jewel
....by Rubini ..................................................................................................Sc. 60
To Tramontana Groom of S. A. for three Paintings
....by a Flemish painter...................................................................................Sc. 21
......On day 5 said
To four grooms of S.A. and to the Second Knight ......................................Sc. 5
......On day 11 said
To Sig. Anibale Dovara ...............................................................................Sc. 200
......On day 12 said
To a poor girl ................................................................................................Sc. 2
......On day 13 said
To the Chamber Assistant of Sig. Prince Lorenzo at the [alle] cards ...........Sc. 10
......On day said
To messer Gio. Batt. Papaleone ..................................................................Sc. 100
......On day 14 said
7
To Sig. Bartolomeo della Stoffa ...................................................................Sc. 300
......On day 16 said
To two footmen and Matteino Magnano ......................................................Sc. 4
......On day 19 said
To Groom Tramontana for a Painting of Fruit ..............................................Sc. 6
......On day 21 said
Paid to Cosimo Breveri for Gambling ..........................................................Sc. 1000
......On day said
To Sig. Cav. Castaldi ...................................................................................Sc. 26
......On day 20 October
To a poor man ..............................................................................................Sc. 32
......On day 26 said
To Sig. Cav. Castaldi for Gambling ..............................................................Sc. 48
......On day 2 December
Paid to Francesco Conti for Gambling .........................................................Sc. 32
..............................................................................................................................----------
.....................................................................................................................Sc. 3226
[At the bottom - note by FP]
S.A. understood, and it is well
Andrea Cioli 31 March 1638
5. Notes on some of the personages mentioned
Some of the personages in the lists of game incomes and expenditures are found in the book cited by Sara Mamone, and I indicate in square brackets the number of the extract in which they appear; for a few others, either it is well-known information, or I indicate the source. It seems clear that I did not consider it necessary to delve into this aspect of the research.
- Cantagallina, Remigio. Florentine artist known especially as an engraver. [note 6]
- Castaldi, knight. He was made country horse-master of the Grand Duke in 1633 [87].
- Cioli, Andrea. “Signor Bali Cioli” 1638 [122]. (He is also present in Galileo's correspondence.)
- Conti, Francesco. “Signor Guardaroba Francesco Conti” 1658. Perhaps in the years of interest, he was not yet the Medici wardrobe keeper, but he certainly had official duties at court [599 and 605].
- Del Buffalo, Paolo, Marquis. In a small group, he learns to joust together with the princes 1630 [25]; intermediary from Paris with Cardinal Mazarin who asks for the castrato Atto for four or six months 1644 [216-17 and 220]; from Rome he intervenes between Giovan Carlo and a group of comedians 1650 [318].
- Della Stoffa, Bartolomeo. Waiter among the provisions of the court of Giovan Carlo [2].
- Dovara, Annibale. Present in the list of knights proposed for the battle in the 1637 festival on horse [103].
- Gamberai, Felice. Florentine intaglio-maker known for the ceiling of the Badia. [note 7]
6. S. Ticozzi, Dizionario degli architetti [Dictionary of Architects]. Milan 1830, p. 270.
7. G. B. Uccelli, Della Badia fiorentina [Of the Florentine Abbey]. Florence 1858, p. 70.
8
- Guerrini, Benedetto. Secretary of the Chamber of Ferdinando II. He writes from Pisa [204].
- Medici, Ferdinando II (1610-1670). Firstborn; after the premature death of his father in 1621 the grand duchy had been governed until 1628 by the two regents, his mother Maria Maddalena of Habsburg and his paternal grandmother Cristina di Lorena. Passionate about art and science.
- Medici, Giovan Carlo (1611-1663). Second son. First military then ecclesiastical career. Exceptional collector of works of art.
- Medici, Lorenzo (1599-1648). Uncle of the most serene brothers. His frequentation [of them] partly balanced the severe education of his nephews by their foreign mother and grandmother.
- Niccolini, Filippo, Marquis. Chambermaster ‒ first on the list of those provisioned at the court of Giovan Carlo [1, 2, and many others].
- Piggi, Bartolomeo. Painter, from Pistoia he asks for a portrait to copy 1644 [888].
- Squilletti, Tiberio (1595-1677) “from Catanzaro, banished (known as “Fra Paolo”) in the Papal States, 1637 took refuge in Florence and was protected by the Grand.; but then he fell into disgrace and was arrested in 1644 and remained in prison until his death.” [note 8]
6. Discussion and conclusions
The two balance sheets copied in full raise more questions than they
solve. Let us examine the main ones, in a way that cannot be entirely
systematic. Scrolling through the listed items, one immediately notices
that not all of them concern gambling [il gioco, literally, “the game”]. Some are evidently connected with the artistic interests of the “serenissimi fratelli”
[most serene brothers], among which one finds several works by Flemish
painters who were now very well-known and appreciated in Florence. The
appearance of the “pietre commesse”
[ordered stones] in the sector is not surprising, a typical Florentine
artistic production that has continued to the present day (see Figure)
and is well represented historically by the opificio delle Pietre Dure
[Factory of Hard Stones].
Florence, ca. 1975. Simple example of “ordered stones.”
_____________________8. G. Garollo, Dizionario biografico universale [Universal Biographical Dictionary]. Milan 1907, p. 1831.
9
The list also reflects the passion for hunting, with the purchase of ammunition for arquebuses; among other things, the dates that can be read are from late summer and autumn, often dedicated to holidays in the countryside and hunting. Evidently, the money available could be used for accessory activities, not only strictly for gambling. There are also outflows of money, rather unexpected, for the purchase of jewels and even dogs; furthermore, there were also donations for alms and tips; it is clear that the income from gambling activities allowed for the range of spending opportunities to be extended.
However, the entire file is indicated as reserved for gambling, and therefore this will be the activity to be considered with greater attention. We can start with the context of the documentation. It is clearly about incomes and expenditures that are reported to the Grand Duke at the end of the year (a few days later in fact) under the title of Denari di S.A.S. del Gioco [Monies of S.A.S. of Gambling]. The games of the mallet and the balloon are mentioned, which are presumed to have been played outdoors, but they would seem to be secondary cases compared to the card games, for which only some expenses for the playing cards appear explicitly.
From the title, one might assume that the Grand Duke assigns a member of the court the task of keeping accounts of the income and expenditure relating to his gambling activity. Personally, this is exactly what I planned to examine, imagining that I would find information on who played with the Grand Duke, when, where, at what game, at what stakes.
Here, however, one can glimpse some sort of organization, such that the Grand Duke appears explicitly only to check that the budget of the income and expenditure of gambling activity is in balance. In fact, the two annual budgets end without debts or credits, but this happens in 1636 because a budget surplus of almost 44 scudi is finally allocated to alms.
A minimum of information is obtained on "where" gambling is done. There are only two words, Mezzomonte and Artimina, but they are enough to give us a glimpse of the gambling environment. In those years, the greatest commitment of Giovan Carlo was dedicated to the Villa di Mezzomonte; he had purchased it in 1429 and was taking care of its architectural and decorative renovation, with the best artists called for work on the case; among other things, his collection of 250 paintings was kept right there. In 1644, the cardinal left this good retreat of his and sold the villa to Bartolomeo Corsini, of the noble family which still owns it. [note 9]
From what we know about Giovan Carlo, we cannot be surprised to find him present in these accounts of gambling activities: at the time he had not even become a cardinal! (Although it seems that even later, under the different habit, he maintained his habits.) On the other hand, Artimina could only have been the Medici Villa Ferdinanda in the municipality of Carmignano, near Artimino, a country village that had been of considerable importance in the Etruscan era; today this villa too is private property and is not part of the series of Medici Villas still sought after as important tourist destinations. [note 10]
So, from those two words we can get another decisive piece of information: who could play in those two environments? Certainly not the peasants from the neighboring houses! It is obvious that the “serenissimi fratelli” had free access to these villas, but it is unimaginable that these reports of income and expenditure from games referred to gambling within the family. We must therefore assume that parties were held with a notable quantity of noble families invited to perhaps also attend some plays and certainly to gamble. Up to this point, the scene can be easily imagined, despite all the prohibitions and the background remaining from the Council of Trent.
That the upper-class Florentines ‒ and it would seem, especially the ladies ‒ had a strong interest in gambling in those years is also indicated in the book by Sara Mamone already cited: the selection of documents is made only on the basis of shows and theatre, but some references are casually inserted also for gambling. Here is what we read for 1639 on pp. 76-77, in one of the various examples in which the selected news on the activity of various parties and recitals is also mixed with some on gambling.
_______________
9. https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Villa_Cor ... Mezzomonte
10. https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Villa_medicea_di_Artimino
10
The problem that comes to my mind, however, is that of the “gambling” figures recorded in the document in question. Let us imagine that in the villas there were many tables of games with high stakes, in accordance with the social status of the guests, who could not have played with coins. One can easily think then of large sums of money passing from one pocket to another. Good. But how did they manage to be directed instead ‒ or also - towards the pockets of the "serenissimi fratelli"?As for news, on Wednesday evening at the house of Sig. Cavalieri dal Borgo there was a dance party that lasted until five o'clock, and therefore there were not many ladies in the small room; and that same evening at the house of Sig. Cavalier Bagherini there was a gambling party, which was the reason that some of the beauties did not go to that ball. … This evening at the house of Sig. Francesco Bartolini there is a gambling party. …The party that was held at the house of Sig. Bartolino was with three small tables of ladies; there was another at the house of Sig. Cavalier Amerigo da Verrazzano, where Signora Marzoppina was with some others.
The only possibility I can see to try to understand the recorded figures is that the game was indeed a card game, but of the type of a banker's game, like bassetta or similar. With such a hypothesis, one could understand both the enthusiasm of many Florentine nobles, who on these occasions had the possibility of gambling with impunity and the income from the game, which in fact would correspond mainly to the banker's earnings, as regularly occurs in all similar cases. In confirmation, one can note that the personages who appear as "participants" in the gambling [il gioco] are in reality the same ones who are found as collectors of both the incomes and the expenditures deriving from the operation of the game: it happens in fact that they are regularly members in various capacities of the court of one or other of the Medici brothers (or of the uncle, who notoriously ran several public entertainment activities with them.
It is possible that a different and more convincing explanation for these gambling-related figures will be found later (or even that one has already been found, without my knowledge). It is also true that just the idea of suggesting the “Serenissimi fratelli” behaving like true impresarios would have seemed absurd until a few years ago. Recent research by Sara Mamone and her students has, however, underlined precisely this aspect for the theatre and shows, as is also indicated in the richly documented book cited at the beginning ‒ Serenissimi fratelli principi impresari [Most serene brothers princes impresarios], an explanatory title! ‒ which, precisely for this characteristic and for its related national and international relations, signals its modern character, in stark contrast with the common description of the environment of the Medici court in continuous decline, now isolated from Italian and foreign centers with a more advanced culture.
Florence, 09.30.2024
