Giovan Luigi "Chiappino" Vitelli (1519 – July 1575)[1][2] was an Italian marquis and military leader, son of Niccolò Vitelli.[3]
Vitelli served as captain under Cosimo I de' Medici in his wars to gain Florence, Siena and Montalcino, and was appointed governor of Piombino (1543).
He was also a general in the Spanish Army of Flanders, as well as Tuscan ambassador in the England of Elizabeth I. He was marquis of Cetona, that he acquired from Cosimo I de' Medici (1556).
Here, he restored the fortress and built the Piazza Vitelli town square (1559),[4] today the Piazza Garibaldi, as well as the Palazzo Vitelli which can be seen today, holding a significant art collection.[5] He used acquisitions from other places, such as a belltower from Montepescali, a town he had surrounded near Grosseto (1555).[6] His military inventions include a siege technique, first tried at the town of Mons in, for the Spanish Duke of Alba (1572).[7]
He died in the Netherlands in 1575.