RUCELLAI, FAMIGLIA. — Florentine family. The earliest known ancestor is an ALAMANNO who, in the 13th century, having extracted from a plant called oricella a dye for coloring wool, received the nickname “oricellario.”
The R., enriched through commerce, distinguished themselves through cultural activity and patronage. GIOVANNI di Paolo (1403–81) had the family palace and the façade of S. Maria Novella built according to designs by Leon Battista Alberti. BERNARDO di Giovanni (1448–1514) married Nannina, niece of Cosimo il Vecchio: favored by Lorenzo de’ Medici, he was instead opposed by Piero; later, out of hostility toward Soderini, he drew closer to the Medici. He was the author of historical works; and the “Orti Oricellari” became the seat of the Platonic Academy (for his son GIOVANNI V. sotto). Other ecclesiastics were: PANDOLFO di Giovanni (1436–1497), a Dominican of S. Marco under the name fra Santi, honored in the Order as venerable; SIMONE di Vanni (1460–1514), a Florentine canon, rector of the University of Pisa, apostolic collector for Tuscany under Alexander VI, and chamberlain to Julius II; FRANCESCO di Filippo (1466–1503), bishop of Pesaro in 1499 and vice-legate in Bologna in 1502; ANNIBALE di Luigi (d. 28 Jan. 1601 in Rome), who lived in France, where he received the bishopric of Carcassonne (1 Apr. 1569), and, on his return to Italy, was appointed by Clement VIII legate to Bologna and Ancona and master of the household; LUIGI di Orazio (d. 1627), who followed Maria de’ Medici to France and, after providing her with considerable assistance, fell out of favor with Richelieu, took up military service, and died in battle. In the 18th century, GIULIO di Paolo Benedetto (1702–78) should be remembered: professor at the University of Pisa, minister of finance under Pietro Leopoldo, and the inspiration behind his jurisdictionalist policy.
GIOVANNI, poet, b. in Florence on 20 Oct. 1475, d. in Rome on 3 Apr. 1525.
A cousin of Leo X, he composed two tragedies even amid his political responsibilities: the Rosmunda and the Oreste. Having entered the ecclesiastical state, he was appointed by Clement VII castellan of Castel S. Angelo, a position in which he died on the eve of receiving the cardinal’s hat. His best-known work is the elegant didactic poem Le Api, dedicated to Trissino and based for the most part on Book IV of Virgil’s Georgics.
It contains a reference (vv. 358–79) to the election of Clement VII to the papacy.