Valentino Meucci: A homeless man in 18th-century Florence: 3 very rare items.
[Valentino Meucci, called Il Mascherino] / Anonymous. Breve compendio della vita di Valentino Meucci detto Mascherino. S.l. [very likely Florence]: s.n., s.a. [likely 1795]. 8vo [15.1 x 10.3 cm], 8 pp. Bound in contemporary yellow wrappers, with shelfmark ex-libris label of Pietro Gerini (see below) on front cover. Minor rubbing and edge wear to wrappers, a few stains and wrinkles. Internally well preserved.
[With:]
[Etching] / Anonymous. Ritratto di Valentino Meucci detto volgarmente Mascherino Morto presso le Mura di Firenze il di 1. Febbraio 1795. S.l. [very likely Florence]: s.n., s.a. [likely 1795]. Folio [35.7 x 24.3 cm the sheet; 20.7 x 12. 9cm the platemark], [1] f. etching. Some waviness in area of printed images, sheet untrimmed.
[And with:]
[Etching] / Anonymous. Valentino Meucci di Monte Castelli detto Mascherino, in quell’atteggiamento in cui fu trovato morto il di p[ri]mo Febbraio 1795 nel suo Jugario dalla Pace nelle mura esteriori della Città di Firenze in età di anni 76. S.l. [very likely Florence]: s.n., s.a. [likely 1795]. Folio [43.0 x 29.1 cm the sheet; 29.7 x 21.3 cm the platemark], [1] f. etching. Some marginal wrinkling, 2 cm tear in upper right margin not affecting image, sheet untrimmed.
$3250
Three very rare 18th-century items—2 large etchings and 1 letterpress booklet—commemorating the life of a certain Valentino Meucci (1719-1795), also known as Il Mascherino, a homeless man who lived in Florence for some 38 years. While the tradition of honoring hermits and mendicants was longstanding on the Italian peninsula, Valentino Meucci seems to have been memorialized by Florentines not so much for his holiness as for his simple dignity, or even merely for his constant presence in the city. These striking etchings and short vita of Valentino Meucci are, as far as I can tell, the only separately issued items published about this man and are rare early examples of pieces devoted to a named homeless person.
The booklet Breve compendio della vita di Valentino Meucci detto Mascherino—undated but likely printed shortly after Meucci’s death on 1 February 1795—provides the contours of the man’s life. Born to impoverished parents in Montecastelli on 14 February 1719, Meucci at first earned a living as an itinerant worker. He left home for good in 1747, travelling briefly to Rome and Loreto and then to Viterbo, where he became enamored with the icon of the Virgin of the Grotticella, a souvenir image of which he thereafter always kept with him.
Meucci arrived in Florence on 2 August 1747 and stationed himself in a nook by a tower on the outside of the city wall at the southern edge of the Boboli Gardens. This location, the Torre di Macherino, is today still identified with him. (In 1789 Follini, in his Firenze antica, e moderna illustrate [vol. 1, p. 381], remarked that Il Mascherino was still living at the foot of the tower which had taken his name). Around this “rusticale abitazione,” Meucci planted fig, palm, and apricot trees. After 7 years, he undertook another short pilgrimage to La Verna, Rome and Loreto, returning to Florence on 15 sept 1755.
The booklet describes Meucci as being “simple.” He made daily rounds to the Florentine monasteries to acquire food and sometimes was given provisions by local contadini. In his habitation he set up shrine with popular devotional images. Meucci was imprisoned for 5 days for stealing a hat, but the public consensus was that he had been wrongly accused. After recovering from a serious three-month illness, Meucci found that his habitation was being threatened by increasing carriage traffic, but locals rallied around him to protect his spot. A few days before his death, Meucci gave his image of the Virgin of the Grotticella to the Abbess of Sta. Teresa. On 1 February 1795, he died in his encampment, oddly positioned on a ladder leaning against the city wall. He was buried 4 or 5 days later. Some said his body showed no sign of putrefaction, but others said the left side of his face had been partially eaten by mice. The anonymous writer of the booklet (no hagiographer) states that the details of Meucci’s life were reported to him by the monasteries and local houses Meucci frequented and by Meucci himself (“di sua propria bocca”).
The first of the 2 extraordinary etchings offered here depicts Meucci in full length standing in a Tuscan landscape, wearing his tattered clothes, and carrying a basket of vegetables. His tower is visible in the background. The second etching shows Meucci on the ladder of his encampment in the position he was found at his death. Neither print is signed, but both are of some technical quality and are notable for depicting Meucci not simply as a homeless type (as one sees in contemporary costume books or “Cries”) but as a named individual. The makers of these prints no doubt considered Meucci’s notoriety in Florence to be high enough to warrant the etching of a plate to capitalize on the news of his passing.
The booklet carries on its front cover the 19th-century ex-libris shelfmark label of Pieri (Pietro) Gerini (see J. Gelli, 3500 ex libris italiani, p. 190, no. 3).
OPAC, OCLC and KVK locate 2 examples worldwide of the letterpress Breve compendio della vita di Valentino Meucci detto Mascherino (Oxford and Médiathèques de Montpellier). The full-length etching of Meucci (Ritratto di Valentino Meucci) is recorded in 1 copy worldwide (Museo Civico, Barletta, Puglia). I have been unable to locate any other examples of the etching depicting Meucci’s body on the ladder.
* R. Uccelli, Contributo alla bibliografia della Toscana, p. 310, no. 8015 (the booklet).