“Giocatori del saccomazzone” (Saccomazzone Players), by Romolo del Tadda, 1780
Giardino di Boboli (Boboli Gardens)
Florence, January 2017
“This statue depicts two blindfolded youth, one crouching low behind the other figure who raises a sling. In 17th century Italian courtly life the Gioco del Saccomazzone was a game played during the interludes of rustic dances. It involved two blindfolded men attempting to hit each other with a knotted cloth without lifting their left hands from an object in the middle of the room, while also shrieking imitations of bird cries. Orazio Mochi (1571-1625) originally conceived this comical composition in around 1620, and the small witty bronze of Saccomazzone Players was later enlarged to life-size pietra serena group for the Boboli Gardens by the sculptor Romolo Ferrucci del Tadda (c. 1550-1621).” (Saccomazzone Players, Web Gallery of Art)
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