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| Portrait painted by her godfather, Leonardo da Vinci, 1516 |
She was one of six children born to Lisa (née) Gherardini and successful silk and cloth merchant, Francesco di Bartolomeo del Giocondo. The family lived primarily in Florence, and occasionally Tuscany.
The meaning of Pierina's name is "made of stone," a daintified version of Piero which means rock. Her middle name, Euphemia, means "fair speech"—a prophetic name in and of itself given what she said was always accurate, fair, just, and true.
Pierina was an astute observer at a macro level and had an uncanny ability to look at history and current events in such a way that she was able to identify sequences and cycles of human behavior that would determine the future. She vehemently decried scrying, and cast aspersions at anyone who dared suggest she was a fortune teller or medium. She considered what she did a science insomuch as she could “see the signs of the times” i.e. trends, patterns, cause and effect.
Pierina did not rely on objects such as crystal balls, bones, tea leaves, cards et cetera for her predictions. She called her abilities scienza dell'anima—what would today be translated as science of the psyche.
A local school girl, envious of Pierina's intelligence and confidence, reported her as a witch when Pierina was 13 years old. Rather than subject her to trial, the townfolk of Florence (many of whom had known her all her life and sought her counsel) shut the accuser down. The accuser, however, would return ... twice—bringing the Spanish Inquisition with her each time.
In 1516 Pierina married Ottaviano de' Medici. Theirs was a happy union until it was broken up because of fears and political pressure concerning the rumor that Pierina was a witch. The de Medici family saw to it the marriage was annulled after Pierina and Ottaviano had their first and only child, a son whose birth was subsequently illegitimized and his birth name erased from all records.
They renamed him Giovanni (God is gracious) Bronzino to conceal his identity. Giovanni (John) was a common name at the time and Bronzino (bronze) was a name with no family ties in town, as well as a reference to Giovanni's copper-colored hair. He went with Pierina when she moved to Tuscany. His father Ottaviano would visit with them clandestinely as often as possible until Ottaviano was pressured by his family to remarry.
For more information on Ottaviano as well as the two other prominent male figures in her life, see the Uomini page.
She never remarried and didn't think to use her predictions for profit until she realized her son would have no claim or access to his father's fortune. Ultimately, Giovanni became a successful merchant in Florence without the secret of his identity ever becoming public knowledge. He passed down his mother's carte di previsione to his own children, dividing them equally, thereby breaking up the set. Sadly, only a fraction of the prediction cards remain.
Pierina did a good deal of travelling after the annulment, and while she still called Florence home, when in Italy she spent most of her time in Tuscany, away from any who might alert the Grand Inquisitor to her presence.
Despite the lack of surviving written prognostications, she is regarded as the preeminent trend-and-event forecaster. There is even a hybrid economics-political science course offered by a university, based on her analytical, researched approach to predictions.
TRIVIA
Ottaviano gave Pierina a nickname so as not to inadvertently divulge her whereabouts or identity to anyone—especially his second wife (Francesca who remained jealous of Pierina until her dying breath. As play on her name that was based on the word rock or stone, along with the fact she was very petite, he called her Ciottolo which translates as pebble. The fact the noun is masculine served to throw off Francesca.
Francesca Salviati was 5 years younger than Pierina and was the granddaughter of Lorenzo the Magnificent.