TRANSLATION:
My most Serene Lady, Since there is no news here worthy of Your Highness' ears, I send You two printed accounts. The first describes a palio that was run in recent days from Santa Trìnita to Via Maggio and it was a beautiful thing to behold because there were two huge cartloads full of people. The other account describes the festivities held on the Arno on the evening of the Feast of San Jacopo [25 July]. Between the two bridges [Ponte Vecchio & Ponte Santa Trìnita], a little wooden bridge had been built resembling the one in Pisa [Ponte di Mezzo] with a small platform on either end where the competitors could assemble and organize themselves.

On one side there were forty dyers and on the other forty weavers, all nudi, who had to do battle with their fists. The part of the bridge where one might fall into the water was about twenty paces long on each side, but no wider than two braccia [approx. 1.06 m.] and without railings. Once they started to fight, men therefore fell into the Arno at every moment, sometimes in clusters of six or eight. They would then swim over to their own side, climb back onto the bridge and resume fighting, only to be pushed back in again--especially after the bridge was soaked and there was no traction for their feet. An enormous crowd was present and their shouts and laughter deafened the entire city. The spectacle was particularly enjoyable because it lasted longer than half an hour. The weavers first gained the advantage and held it a long time, but in the end the dyers overcame them and chased them from their part of the bridge, tumbling them all into the Arno.

In the center of the bridge, there was on one side a [figure of] Bacchus straddling a barrel, and on the other, a Europa riding the Bull, indicating that the victors would win a barrel of wine and a fatted calf. There were also two castles on the water, one above and one below the bridge, full of fireworks of all kinds. For half an hour beginning at sunset, first one and then the other of these made a huge ruckus. As a result, the crowd enjoyed this spectacle even more than the bigger and costlier one that had been held in the same place for the Grand Duke's [Cosimo II] wedding.

Regarding other news, I have heard nothing of substance and I thus beg Your Highness to forgive me if I fill these pages with such silliness, and I humbly offer my respects. From Florence, 31 July 1618 Most humble and obligated servant, Curzio Picchena

TEXT:
Ser.ma mia Signora Mancandomi materia di ragguagliar V.A. di cose che siano degne delle sue orecchie, le mando due relazioni stampate. La prima d'un palio che si corse li giorni passati da Santa Trìnita in via Maggio, ch'essendovi stati due grandissimi carri pieni di gente fecero bellissima vista; l'altra della festa che si fece in Arno la sera di San Iacopo [25 luglio]. Era stato fatto in mezzo alli due ponti [Ponte Vecchio & Ponte Santa Trìnita] un ponticello di legno a guisa di quel di Pisa [Ponte di Mezzo], con un poco di piazza dalle due teste, da ragunarvisi e mettersi in ordinanza i combattitori, che da una banda erano quaranta tintori et dall'altra quaranta tessitori, nudi, che havevano da combatter con le pugna. Et quella parte del ponte dove s'haveva da far la tuffa era di qua e di là lunga circa venti passi per banda, ma non più larga di due braccia [circa 1,06 m.] et senza sponde, sichè quando vennero alle mani si vedeva ogni momento cader gente in Arno, et alle volte sei o otto aggruppati insieme, i quali n[u]otando se n'andavano dalle lor bande a risalire sul ponte e di nuovo combattere e sempre cadere, massime quando il ponte era bagnato, che non potevano fermare il piede. V'era popolo innumerabile, et il grido et le risa intronavano tutta la città. Fu anche più dilettevole la festa per esser durato il combattimento più di mezz'hora, perchè i tessitori nel principio guadagnarono il vantaggio et stettero un gran pezzo duri, ma alla fine i tintori cominciarono a farli piegare, e li cacciarono dalla lor banda, facendoli saltar tutti in Arno. Nel mezzo del ponte era da una banda un Bacco a cavallo sopra una botte, et dall'altra Europa sopra 'l toro, segno che il premio de' vincitori doveva essere una botte di vino e una vitella. Erano poi sul fiume due castelli, uno di sotto e l'altro di sopra, pieni d'infinite sorte di fuochi lavorati, che prima l'uno et poi l'altro dalle 24 hore fino alla mezza fecero un fracasso grandissimo, sichè il popolo hebbe più gusto di questa festa che di quella-sì grande e sì dispendiosa-che si fece nel medesimo luogo per le nozze del Gran Duca. Delle nuove di fuora non sento cose di sustanza, et supplico V.A. di scusarmi se io empio il foglio di queste baie, et le faccio humilissima riverenza. Da Firenze 31 di luglio 1618 Humilissimo et obbligattissimo servitore Curzio Picchena

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND:
Florentine life was defined by cycles of public festivities linked to the Church calendar and the dynastic achievements of the ruling family. One of the most renowned celebrations ever held in the Medici capital was the so-called "Festa dell'Arno", staged on the river in 1608 to mark the wedding of Cosimo II and Maria Maddalena d'Austria. Secretary Picchena freely admitted that this grand courtly occasion was upstaged by a more homespun event ten years later, designed to imitate the annual "Gioco del Ponte" in Pisa. It would seem that printed accounts of the "Palio" (evidently a race between two carts crammed with people) and the aquatic contest were being distributed within days of both events. Picchena describes the dyers and weavers as "nudi", which could be read as "unarmed" or "undressed". Both interpretations are probably relevant, since the textile workers were fighting with their bare hands, in the Arno River, in the height of the Florentine summer.