Critical Studies
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Thomas Turley
ANTONIO PUCCI (c. 1310–1388)
The Florentine poet Antonio Pucci is known for sonnets
in the medieval Italian comic tradition; poems on histori-
cal events involving Florence; cantari on popular leg-
ends; and Centiloquio, a poetic transcription of Giovanni
Villani’s Cronica (Chronicles) in terza rima. The son
of a bronze caster whose specialty was church bells,
Pucci was appointed the offi cial bell ringer of Florence
in 1334. In 1349 he became the banditore (town crier),
a position he held for the next twenty years. During his
tenure as banditore, he had occasion to spread the news
concerning many events of Florentine history, and some
of them became subjects of his serventesi: the fl ood of
the Arno in 1333, the famine of 1346, the plague of
1348, the victory of the Florentine militia over Padua
in 1337, and the overthrow of Gualtieri di Brienne, the
duke of Athens, in 1343.
The great variety of themes found in Pucci’s poetry
gives the reader a broad picture of life in Florence dur-
ing the mid-fourteenth century. In addition to historical
events, Pucci delighted in portraying quotidian life: for
example, an invective against a chicken vendor who sold
the poet a desiccated old hen (Andrea, tu mi vendesti
per pollastra), an ode to a sloppy barber (Amico mio
barbier, quando tu meni), and the poet’s lament at being
forced to churn out his art for inadequate compensation
or none (Deh fammi una canzon, fammi un sonetto).
Many sonnets are didactic, offering advice on how to
be a good husband or wife (Amico mio, da poi ch’hai
tolto moglie and Figliuola mia, poi che se’ maritata),
or how to raise children (Quando ’l fanciul da piccolo
scioccheggia and Il giovane cbe vuol avere onore). Te r-
nario sulle noie lists numerous annoyances of daily life
in the form of the traditional Provençal enueg, beloved
of many medieval Italian comic poets.
Pucci was a great admirer of Dante. He wrote a sonnet
(Questi che veste di color sanguigno) commemorating
the portrait of Dante that Giotto painted in 1335; and in
Centiloquio, Canto LV is dedicated to praise of Dante,
a description of his works, and the story of his life. In
Libro di varie storie, also known as Zibaldone, which
Pucci intended for his private use, there are frequent
citations from Dante’s Commedia.
Another painting by Giotto, the allegory of the co-
mune rubato (“robbed city”), was the probable model
for two of Pucci’s sonnets: Ohmè, Comun, come conciar
ti veggio, a lament on the suffering of Florence due
to bad government; and Se nel mio ben ciascun fosse
leale, in which Florence, personifi ed, addresses those
who maltreat her.
One of Pucci’s recurring themes is his defense and
praise of women. In response to a misogynistic sonnet
by Buto Giovan-nini, Antonio mio, di femmina pavento,
Pucci wrote La femmina fa l’uom viver contento, extol-
ling the virtues of feminine companionship and lament-
ing the abuse without provocation that many women
receive at the hands of men. This theme is more amply
developed in Il contrasto delle donne, a poem of sev-
enty-fi ve stanzas cast as a debate between an unnamed
misogynist and a defender of women. Using exempla
from the Bible and classical literature, each interlocu-
tor presents a case, but the poem is structured so that
the defender of women can refute all the arguments
advanced by the detractor.
Exemplary women are the protagonists of three of
Pucci’s fi ve cantari on popular legends: Gismirante,
Bruto di Brettagna, Madonna Leonessa, La reina
d’Oriente, and Apollonio di Tiro. Other cantari were
written to commemorate political events; the seven
cantari of Guerra di Pisa (War with Pisa) are examples.
These short poems in ottave, written in a formulaic style,
were composed for recital in the piazze of Florence.
The virtuous behavior of the heroes and heroines of the
cantari and other canzoni written by Pucci to illustrate a
moral point are indicative of the didactic bent of much
of his poetry.
Pucci enjoyed writing sonnets in the tradition of
courtly love, adding a note of overt sensuality to an
allusive but circumspect genre. Corona del messaggio
d’amore, a cycle of nineteen sonnets depicting the ritual
of courtship, concludes with a description of lovemak-
ing. The serventese on the beauties of his lady, Quella
di cui i’ son veracemente, is also markedly sensual.
As a man whose work involved riding around Flor-
ence on horseback blowing a trumpet and making of-
fi cial proclamations, Pucci knew the streets of the city
well. In Ternario delle proprietà di Mercato Vecchio,
Pucci describes the colorful bustle of the market piazza
at various seasons of the year, giving the reader a rich
and vivid document of Florentine life in the poet’s time.
See also Dante Alighieri; Giotto di Bondone;
Villani, GiovanniANTHONY OF PADUA, SAINT