IN OCTOBER THE HUNT BEGINS….

THE STORY – FOX HUNTING

Florence, A.D. 1434. Picardo dei Conti Bradaglia, the progenitor of a very noble and powerful Tuscan family, is the first treasurer of Cosimo de’ Medici, who, in that very year, after the exhausting negotiations of his family members and in return for the payment of a large sum of money, was finally able to return to Florence from his forced exile that had lasted 12 months in Venice. Picardo, a shy and unfriendly person, at Cosimo’s side for as long as he can remember, has as his primary and delicate task to follow the investments and collection of money of all the bank’s branches present in the small villages scattered throughout Tuscany. For the Conti Bradaglia family, these were the years of greatest prestige and power in Florence and much of Tuscany. Years of supremacy and wealth, in which Picardo, began to plot treason against Cosimo de’ Medici, starting to manipulate accounting records, to steal and accumulate massive sums of money. The fortune he was creating was immeasurable, equal, it was said at the time, even to that of the Medici. But Picardo did not just want money, he had far more ambitious aims, to replace Cosimo de’ Medici as the political and economic leader of Florence. To get there, by calculation, bribery and violence, he had concocted a diabolical, sophisticated and cunning plan, which he said would be inconspicuous: “to systematically conquer the power of the small boroughs…to eventually get to Florence.”
Read the full story…Cosimo de’ Medici, caught up as he was in the political management of the city and the ever-growing bank with interests and branches all over the world, began to suspect Picardo only after seeing him casually talking to some of the members of the three families that had exiled him from Florence, the Albizzi, Peruzzi and Gianfigliazzi families. It took him little time to discover the treachery and deception of what he thought was the most trusted of his advisers and collaborators. It was 1454 and Picardo’s game had been exposed. Cosimo ousted him from every public and private role, stripping him of any possessions he knew of. He had all the male heads of families killed while women and young males could no longer have any role in society in Florence and throughout Tuscany. The decision not to kill or exile him was made to appear in the eyes of all Florentines, a magnanimous and good man. But the truth was that all the money stolen by Picardo had not been found … and this was the best guarantee of life for the traitor.

From that moment Cosimo de’ Medici began the hunt throughout Tuscany for what everyone now called the “Treasure of the Bradaglia.”

The hunt had begun…. the legend of a priceless treasure had begun.
More than 400 years passed. It was December 8, 1880. Elisia Bradaglia, a descendant of Picardo, was a seamstress in Florence in life. Seemingly humble and simple in manner and dress, she could barely eat with that job. Her life for what little was known was spartan and very private. He had no friends and never stopped to talk to anyone. He lived with his housekeeper Ludilla. That morning, the letter carrier knocked on Elisia’s door to deliver a letter sent from overseas. Elisia with her usual calm and detached coolness, began to open it. After reading it without any hesitation and always moving with absolute calmness, she called the housekeeper and got her to help prepare her luggage. In the letter, her cousin, Elettra, asked her to join her as soon as possible in New York; he had found her a job in the largest textile company in the city, with a salary much higher than hers. So they would also finally be able to talk as they did as children about their Family and their Ancestors. The latter were code words. Elísia accompanied by her faithful housekeeper Ludilla, left the next morning for Genoa from where two days later they took the ship that would take them to New York. Elettra had arranged everything down to the last detail, including Elísia’s marriage to Frank Fox, the owner of that company where she was to work. Elettra had also arranged for the newlyweds to return to Italy after exactly 30 days, joined by her and her son Altiero. It was the opposite journey to the one that nine million people were making. Frank Fox’s real name was Picardo dei Conti Bradaglia, a direct descendant of Cosimo de’ Medici’s traitor. When they arrived in Florence, they settled in a two-story palazzetto in the vicinity of the Palazzo de’ Medici, called “Pallazzetto delle 4 Scale.” From that place the Fox couple, assisted by Elettra and their son Altiero, would begin their revenge to retrace, with their usual determination and violence, the road their ancestor began… power in the small Borghi to arrive in Florence! From here we come to the present day…nothing has changed for the Family of Counts Bradaglia!

Fox Hunting – The Game

Picardo of the Counts Bradaglia, in order to hide and protect his enormous treasure, when he realized he had been discovered by Cosimo de’ Medici, sent for and gathered in great haste in the night in his house, all the young scions-men and women-from the different branches of the family. He knew that their fathers would be killed, and he had to do, in great secrecy, everything possible to protect the enormous amount of money stolen over the years from the Medici. But above all, his ambition and lust to rule in Florence was not to die with him. That night one of the most secret organizations in the world “The 4 Signories” was born. Picardo chose the 4 eldest among the youth, two men and two women, naming them “Regents of the 4 Seignories.” Each of them would be aware of one of the 4 places where he had hidden money and would have to manage it with wit and great discretion to finance the return to power of the Bradaglia Counts. The regents of the 4 lordships would meet every 8th day of the month in great secrecy to compare notes on what each had accomplished. Upon the death of one of the 4 regents, any of the dynasty’s heirs who had reached 18 years of age would be able to participate in the “Hunt,” a very old game that Picardo used to organize in his country house every year starting on the day of the summer solstice, June 21, and for 8 days, where he was the Fox who left clues scattered in the hamlets no more than 8 km. away from the house. The clues led to a reward. There were four teams to play. The male members and heirs of the Family were divided into two teams with the names: Fennec and Cane, while the females were divided into two other teams with the names: Corsac and Arctic. Each team had a pack leader. At the end of the eight days, the leader of the team that managed to find all the clues first and solve all the riddles shown on the game map would become a member of “The 4 Lordships.” A no-holds-barred hunt over 8 days. Each day 24 hours and with the help of a map to solve and find clues. Win and finish first to give way for the leader of one’s team to sit in the most secret room in the world, and rule the power of the 4 Lordships, together with the Fox. Picardo of Counts Bradaglia is back!

CAST – FOX HUNTING

Original Story by
FRANCESCO FELLI

Executive Producer
PAOLO SANTORO

Performers
Arctic – SOFIA ANGELOZZI
Dog – GABRIELE NAMIO
Corsac – ILARIA ARCANGELI
Fennec – JORDI MONTENEGRO

Director – FRANCESCO FELLI
Assistant Director – AGNESE CHELLINI
Director of Photography – MARCO BACCO
Cameraman – MARIO TOMASETTI
Special Effects – VALERIANO SPIRITO
Backstage Shooting – JACOPO SANTORO
Makeup Artist – SILVIA VENERANDO
Production Director – GIULIA SBREGA
Commercial Director – ANGELO FERRARIS
External Relations – MARI D’ELIA