Born in Poggibonsi, Siena as Novellantonio Novelli, a former footballer and surveyor, Novelli initially was the manager of the cabaret group "I Giancattivi" consisting of Francesco Nuti, Athina Cenci and Alessandro Benvenuti.
" It was described by Franciscan pilgrim Nicolas of Poggibonsi (1346–50) as being 7 feet high and enclosed by a rounded tomb with three gates.
It was in the past extensively raised in the lower part of the valley between Florence and the Tyrrhenian Sea and in the plains surrounding Pisa, in the areas of comuni such as Cerreto Guidi, Pontedera, Empoli, Poggibonsi and San Miniato.