Question: The Carraresi (or da Carrara) were an important family of northern Italy in the 12th to 15th centuries, Francesco il Vecchio, son of Giacomo, a close friend of Petrarch in his early years, was a noted patron of Petrarch himself, his retirement years were spent at Arquà, a Carrara fief, and he bequeathed to Francesco his picture of the Virgin by which Italian painter and architect from Florence during the Late Middle Ages?

Context articles: Grand chant
Jacopo II da Carrara
Francesco Novello da Carrara
Carmine Gentile (painter)
Francesco I da Carrara
Carraresi
Giotto
Late Middle Ages
Italian literature
Ser Petracco

The gran(d) chan(t) (courtois) or, in modern French, (grande) chanson courtoise or chanson d'amour, often abbreviated "chanson", was a genre of Old French lyric poetry devised by the trouvères.
 It was adopted from the Occitan "canso" of the troubadours, but scholars stress that it was a distinct genre.
 The predominant theme of the "grand chant" was courtly love, but topics were more broad than in the "canso", especially after the thirteenth century.
 The monophonic "grand chant" of the High Middle Ages (12th–13th centuries) was in many respects the predecessor of the polyphonic "chanson" of the Late Middle Ages (14th–15th centuries).
Jacopo II da Carrara (or Giacomo II) (died 1350), of the Carraresi family, was the "capitano del popolo" of Padua from 1345 until his death.
 Though he assumed power through forged documents and political murder, he was a patron of art and literature.
 He succeeded in bringing Francesco Petrarca to Padua for a time, and his own son, Francesco I, was an artisan.
 Jacopo also introduced the "carrarino" as the currency of Padua.
Francesco Novello da Carrara (19 May 1359 – 16 January 1406) was Lord of Padua after his father, Francesco il Vecchio, renounced the lordship on 29 June 1388; he was a member of the family of Carraresi.
 He married Taddea, daughter of Niccolò II d'Este, Lord of Modena.
Carmine Gentile (16 July 1678 - 11 July 1763) was an Italian painter and potter of maiolica in Castelli, Abruzzo.
 He trained with Carlo Antonio Grue, the son of Francesco Grue.
 His sons Giacomo il Giovane (born 1717) and Berardino (1727-1813) were also maiolica painters.
 Giacomo il Vecchio lived 1768-1813.
Francesco I da Carrara (29 September 1325, Monza – 6 October 1393, Padua), called il Vecchio, was Lord of Padua from 1350 to 1388.
The Carraresi (or da Carrara) were an important family of northern Italy in the 12th to 15th centuries.
 As "signori" of Padua, their overwhelming power and patronage placed them in an isolated position far outshining any other single family.
 Their extensive land holdings in the Paduan "contado" were supplemented by extensive property within the "comune" itself, and their political prominence made them comparable to the Scaligeri of contemporary Verona, or the Visconti of Milan.
 Margaret Plant has examined how "in its period of domination in Padua from 1337 to 1405 the house of Carrara sustained a singular chapter in the history of patronage".
 Francesco il Vecchio, son of Giacomo, a close friend of Petrarch in his early years, was a noted patron of Petrarch himself and commissioned frescoes (destroyed) illustrating Petrarch's "De viris illustribus" in the palazzo, ca 1367-79, employing Guariento and others; Petrarch's retirement years were spent at Arquà, a Carrara fief, and he bequeathed to Francesco his picture of the Virgin by Giotto.
Giotto di Bondone ( 1270 – January 8, 1337), known mononymously as Giotto (] ) and latinised as Giottus, was an Italian painter and architect from Florence during the Late Middle Ages.
 He worked during the "Gothic or Proto-Renaissance" period.
The Late Middle Ages or Late Medieval Period were the period of European history generally comprising the 14th and 15th centuries (c. 1301–1500).
 The Late Middle Ages followed the High Middle Ages and preceded the onset of the early modern era (and, in much of Europe, the Renaissance).
Italian literature is written in the Italian language, particularly within Italy.
 It may also refer to literature written by Italians or in Italy in other languages spoken in Italy, often languages that are closely related to modern Italian.
 An early example of Italian literature is the tradition of vernacular lyric poetry performed in Occitan, which reached Italy by the end of the 12th century.
 In 1230, the Sicilian School is notable for being the first style in standard Italian.
 Dante Alighieri, one of the greatest of Italian poets, is notable for his "Divine Comedy".
 Petrarch did classical research and wrote lyric poetry.
 Renaissance humanism developed during the 14th and the beginning of the 15th centuries.
 Humanists sought to create a citizenry able to speak and write with eloquence and clarity.
 Early humanists, such as Petrarch, were great collectors of antique manuscripts.
 Lorenzo de Medici shows the influence of Florence on the Renaissance.
 Leonardo da Vinci wrote a treatise on painting.
 The development of the drama in the 15th century was very great.
 The fundamental characteristic of the era following Renaissance is that it perfected the Italian character of its language.
 Niccolò Machiavelli and Francesco Guicciardini were the chief originators of the science of history.
 Pietro Bembo was an influential figure in the development of the Italian language and an influence on the 16th-century revival of interest in the works of Petrarch.
Ser Petracco (Pietro di Parenzo di Garzo; 1267—1326) was the father to the Italian poet Francesco Petrarch.
 His father was Ser Parenzo, son of Ser Garzo who reputedly lived to be 100.
 They all were notaries public, the same office that Ser Petracco held in Florence.
 The family did have a small property in Florence.
 His wife’s name was Eletta Canigiani (1270—1319), the mother to Petrarch, whom he married around 1302.
 Petrarch’s granddaughter was named after her.