As an influential gardian (a kind of Provençal cowboy), he is an important figure in the traditional lifestyle and culture of the Camargue region of southern France.

He came from a Florentine family who had settled in Provence in the 15th century, occupying a building in the centre of Avignon then called the Baroncelli Palace (now the Palais du Roure).

Baroncelli was deeply affected by the carnage of the First World War, and became a fervent anti-militarist, later supporting a local Communist mayor.

He was involved in codifying the nascent ‘course camarguaise’, or local style of bullfighting, in which the object was to snatch a rose from the bull's head.

Locals offered him a patch of land nearby where he constructed a replica of his old ranch, calling it the Mas du Simbèu ('sign, emblem'; also the name given to the chief bull of a herd).

He also left an important body of writing describing the area, including Camarguais folktales published in the local dialect of Occitan.