Michele Mattei (1892–1979)
Photo courtesy of Norma Grisanti Petro (daughter of Benvenuto and Victoria Grisanti)

While there were thousands upon thousands of men and women who became image makers from Tuscany, and similar books could be written about the many image makers from the Sergio valley villages, the profiles in this book focus on image makers who were born and/or resided in Gromignana, Italy. These profiles have been written with the definition of history proposed by noted Princeton historian Zachary M. Schrag. He defines history as “the study of people and the choices they made.” What happened in the lives of our ancestors is a direct result of the choices they made under the specific circumstances in which they found themselves. Their choices were made in the past but continue to influence us in the present and will continue to influence future descendants.

Therefore, the profiles presented here are a combination of family oral history, documents found related to these individuals, and the general history of the times they lived in to provide historical context. The purpose of these profiles is to familiarize current and future descendants with their image-maker ancestors. The profiles include dates and records of births, marriages, and deaths, where documented, and photos if available. Also included for some are stories of life events and the challenges individuals and families faced throughout their lives.

Early in its history, Gromignana was a patriarchal community where the church and powerful men controlled the ebb and flow of community life. Like many Tuscan villages, Gromignana was a microcosm of the ups and downs of the human experience through the seventeenth to twentieth centuries. There were those who were incredibly kind, those who were not, and the entire spectrum in between. While our ancestors had no problem discussing the beauty of mountain life, they were extremely tight lipped about the dark side of life in Gromignana. This village, like most Tuscan communities at the time, experienced its share of diseases, mental illness, domestic violence, alcoholism, gambling, infidelity, suicides, and other difficult issues that few wanted to discuss or remember, then and now. Alistair Moffat sums up the history of Tuscany succinctly at the end of his book, Tuscany: A History.

“The story of Tuscany is by turns sublime and inspiring, but almost never saintly and often brutally violent. Above all, it is a tale of human beings and the extremes of which they are capable. And that is at least part of the fascination. The Tuscan landscape and townscape so obviously bear the marks of human activity over millennia that it is impossible to feel remote from even the heightened lives of great artists, writers and scientists who have peopled this remarkable place. All seems familiar, warm and close. In the streets of Siene and Florence or among the evening hills of Chianti (or Gromignana), the past everywhere whispers its stories.”