He was the son of
Niccolò Vitelli, whom he avenged from his murder to along with his brother
Paolo. As a youngster, he became a bodyguard, sparring partner and friend of the
Duke of the Florentine Republic,
Cosimo I de' Medici, who was close to him in age. He was nicknamed
Chiappino ("Little Bear") for his large height and muscular build. today the
Piazza Garibaldi, as well as the Palazzo Vitelli which can be seen today, holding a significant art collection. He used acquisitions from other places, such as a belltower from
Montepescali, a town he had surrounded near
Grosseto (1555).
Mediterranean theater and Eighty Years' War When Cosimo retired from governing duties in 1564, his succession by his son
Francesco I made Vitelli an uncomfortable member of the old guard in Tuscany, leading him to join Philip II's armies full time. He had a personal role in the subsequent battle, where he directed the defense against Hangest's forces from a
litter after being wounded in a leg by an arquebus shot. By this point of his life, Vitelli had lost his athletic build and became famously
obese, so much that he needed a special belt to be able to move around. He attempted to lose all the weight by drinking large quantities of
vinegar, succeeding at the cost of his health going down and his body becoming flaccid. He died shortly after in the Netherlands in 1575. ==References==