Born on September 12, 1310, at the Castle of Montegufoni, he decided to build the Certosa of Florence at the age of about thirty. It was conceived as a place of rest and retreat, a monument to his glory. Over the centuries, he has been subjected to a true damnatio memoriae — a person who deserved a full and vibrant portrait for his importance. He was the Grand Seneschal of the Angevin Kingdom of Naples in the 14th century, yet he has not been favored by historians despite the wealth of documentary material available.

He was a great personality who was reduced to stereotypes that do not do justice to his human, social, and political complexity. This complexity is emblematic in his intense desire to transition from his original elite, that of the great Florentine bankers, to the elite of the Angevin feudalism of the Kingdom, becoming, amid hostility and envy, the architect of Neapolitan politics between 1348 and 1365, the year of his death.

What remains of him is the dream of immortality embodied in the palagium of the Certosa — the first structure encountered when arriving at the complex from the road — erected by Jacopo Passavanti and Jacopo Talenti for his private stays. Here Niccolò could have retired to the tranquility of the monastery and welcomed up to fifty young people to introduce them to the study of the liberal arts (at his death, the palace was only completed up to the first floor and was only finished in the mid-16th century).

Acciaioli considered Boccaccio to be merely a second-rate writer, primarily a teller of ribald tales. Nevertheless, Boccaccio traveled to meet Niccolò in November 1362 at Nocera, Acciaioli’s preferred residence, dreaming of “a small, simple yet comfortable house… a modest position, but calm and well-established as a literary and philosophical advisor to the grand seneschal and the royal household.” Instead, he received a very different welcome—a modest bed, a dining table far from sumptuous, amidst a noisy and uncouth company. Boccaccio left abruptly, as a “man of glass,” as Acciaioli referred to overly sensitive guests, taking revenge with his letter to Nelli.

Boccaccio claimed that it was madness to expect immortality from constructions that fall into ruin. He was wrong: the Certosa of the Montespertoli Acciaioli still testifies to exactly the opposite.

Text by Giovanna M. Carli, creator of the docufilm “Un Luogo Infinito. La Certosa di Firenze” by Media Soluzioni SNC and Giovanna M. Carli, featuring Antonio Natali, narrated by Sandro Lombardi, and with original music by Maria Socci.

Andrea Del Castagno (attributed)
Portrait of Niccolò Acciaioli
Fresco removed and transferred to canvas, 250×154 cm.
Location: Church of San Pier Scheraggio, Uffizi Galleries, Florence

Inscription: at the bottom, painted in capital letters and in Latin: MAGNUS THETRARCHA D’ACCIAROLIS NEAPOLITANI REGNI DISPENSATOR