Prato: A museum rediscovered

On Saturday April 12, the Museo di Palazzo Pretorio in Prato reopens after almost 20 years.

The new design is by architects Adolfo Natalini, Piero Guicciardini and Marco Magni who have done a great job interpreting the quality and flexibility requested by the city. They have made the most of the beauty of the artworks and the palazzo that houses them.

This museum is a place that holds the city’s treasures, and is a symbol of its history and identity. Its collections include around 3,000 works – paintings, sculptures, drawings, fabrics, clothing pieces, furnishings and other objects. The museum really began to form its collection during the 19th century thanks to acquisitions, bequests and donations, but the collection was further enriched more recently with valuable donations. It received donations from the Tintori collection in 1993 and from Angela Riblet and the Jacques and Yulla Lipchitz Foundation in 2011.

The works follow a chronological layout, which is characterized by particular fabrics that bring to mind the classic materials used in historical displays and that are symbolic of the Tuscan city. In following this chronological order, the paintings and sculptures on display tell of the city’s history and reveal the rich artistic and cultural legacy of Prato.

Goppion realized display cases for works from the 4th and 5th centuries.

These large display cases required complex engineering that made for a new logistical challenge for the company. Because they were meant to be placed on the 5th floor of the ancient Palazzo Pretorio with its narrow staircases and limited internal connections, the display cases were built in the Laboratorio, completely dismantled and then put back together again in the rooms where they were to be used. The pieces had to be lifted up with a crane and then had to pass through thin double lancet windows.