Lawn art itineraries

  • A route from Piazza del Duomo to Piazza di San Domenico
  • Route B Outside the Walls

    A route from Piazza del Duomo to Piazza di San Domenico

    The first stage of our journey is the broad piazza del Duomo, which has developed in its present form, taking into account the presence of the cathedral of Santo Stefano, allowing us to be able to admire from many angles.

    Duomo
    "M'affaccio the window, and make a little 'side, m'appare the marble front of the cathedral, a White and green, the Pergamon Michelozzo and Donatello, hung like a nest on the facade and the bell tower which served as a model to the bell tower of Giotto, but more than that is simple, streamlined and straightforward: Stone cut, of good and smooth stone Prato. " What other words can better introduce us to visit the cathedral of Prato, which they referred Curzio Malaparte able to quickly grasp the most beautiful and Interesting: the facade dichromate, the pulpit of the Sacred Cingolo, bell and enrich all of the intense use of green marble from Prato. The work of expansion and renovation of existing, which began in mid-twelfth century, transformed the building of modest origins in any of the Romanesque-Gothic churches, most notable of the Tuscan territory. And the interior is certainly not for less! Many works of great value that it owns, from the pictorial cycles of Paolo Uccello, depicting stories of the Virgin, as in paintings by Filippo Lippi choir with stories of the saints John the Baptist and Stephen, from the pulpit a cup of Mino da Fiesole and Antonio Rossellino transept to the fourteenth century attributed to Giovanni Pisano, also of the Virgin and Child. And yet we must remember the chapel of Sacred Cintola, left of the entrance, frescoed by Agnolo Gaddi in Three hundred, which is preserved the relic of Mary which is produced by external pulpit at special festivals. But Prato is a city not only careful to preserve the testimonies of the past, but is also vigilant about the most interesting trends in contemporary art. So inside the dome is not surprising to find also the splendid altar of Robert Morris el'ambone the same artist.

    Museo dell'Opera del Duomo
    Housed inside the sixteenth-century Episcopal Palace, contains works from the cathedral and items related to the cult of the Sacred Cintola, including to report the findings of the original pulpit by Donatello and paintings by Paolo Uccello, Filippo and Filippino Lippi.

    Take away Mazzoni leading to Piazza del Comune, urban and political hub of the city, given the presence of the building and the City Pretorio of the building. In the middle of the seventeenth-century fountain by Pietro Tacca Bacchino with elegant cup of marine forms, topped by Bacchus child (the original is preserved in the atrium of the Palazzo Comunale, the square replaced by a copy)

    Civic Museum
    The museum is set in the halls of Palazzo Pretorio, an ancient town hall of Prato obtained between the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries by the merger of three separate buildings, the processing which were created to house the local offices of the Podest?, the local judiciary and prisons. The rooms are collected many works of art ranging from the Middle Ages to include focus on the merits of John polyptychs from Milan and Lorenzo Monaco, on the works of Filippo and Filippino Lippi, those of Luca Signorelli. And still showing evidence of seventeenth-century figurative, such as the Noli me tangere of Caracciolo, several still lifes of the eighteenth century, the original models in alabaster and plaster of Lorenzo Bartolini among which stands out the famous Trust in God.
    From the Museum depends on the Picture of the Municipal Palace, located in the same square, where a parade before the visitor allegorical subjects, aristocratic coats of arms, portraits of illustrious men, and particularly the rulers of the cities that have followed over the centuries by the Medici to Lorraine.

    From here via s'imbocchi Cairoli, where the nineteenth century theater Metastasio whose elegant dining room, prepared a horseshoe, is reflected in the facade of the building. Down the road meets Piazza Santa Maria delle Carceri. Among the many beauties that you can see in Prato, two are inside the square.

    Church of Santa Maria delle Carceri
    The church, an authentic jewel of Renaissance architecture, was built by Giuliano da Sangallo in place of a prison where he painted a miraculous image of Our Lady. Hence the name under which it is designated the Basilica, where even today the sacred icon is kept above the altar. The building is a masterpiece of symmetry that echoes architecture of Leon Battista Alberti and Filippo Brunelleschi. The interior is decorated with works in terracotta by Andrea Della Robbia and enlightened by beautiful stained glass windows made from designs by Domenico Ghirlandaio.

    Castle dell'Imperatore
    Also known as the Fortress of Santa Barbara or Svevo Castle, Castle dell'Imperatore is the most important architectural witness of centuries XI-XIII of the city. Unico beautiful Swabian castle in the center-north of the country, its construction began in the thirteenth century for the will of Frederick II of Swabia, was included in a project to put under military control, the main sources of communications from the south of Italy led in Germany. Admission to the castle across a portal with ogive arch, embellished with decorative elements dichromate and the two lions, emblem of the imperial family. The interior, for a long time used as a prison, it is virtually empty, with no carry any trace of original unfinished buildings.

    Quarterdeck
    Beside the castle is the gate, an elevated walkway stronghold which is accessible from Viale Piave and via Pomerio. Its construction was ordered by the Florentines in 1351 to allow the soldiers to get directly from the castle walls and vice versa. The corridor inside the city gate, barrel vaulted and lit by a long series of windows, has become home for interesting exhibitions. Fiorentina from the door, which was almost a little behind the fortress walls, we can also gain access to the walkway above, discovered and crowned on both sides by Guelph battlements, which offers an excellent view of the castle and the city.

    Going back along viale Piave Piazza San Francesco, which overlooks the homonymous church.

    Chiesa di San Francesco
    In the thirteenth century the Friars Minor built on land received as a gift by the city this small church convent el'annesso. This is the first major religious building pratese made almost entirely in brick, used in the crankcase and in the lining of the fa?ade along with the green of Prato. Inside near the high altar there is the beautiful fifteenth-pulpit and the tombstone of Francesco di Marco Datini, built in 1411-12 by Niccol? di Pietro Lamberti. From the right of the church you access to the cloister, one of the first examples of Renaissance architecture in the territory of Prato. On the southern access to the convent which houses the first floor some nice rooms on the first Trecento.

    From here you continue through the intersection where Rinaldeschi via ser Lapo Mazzei sorge Datini palace, former residence of the merchant Francesco di Marco Datini and currently houses the State, the richest and full of correspondence and records merchant in the world, a basic source of economic history from the late Middle Ages. Continuing to walk away Rinadelsca meets Alberti street where we can visit the gallery of Palazzo degli Alberti.

    Galleria di Palazzo degli Alberti
    The museum, divided into rooms on the first floor of the ancient noble palace, begins with a series of portraits of prominent personalities from which proceeds to masterpieces such as the Madonna and Child by Filippo Lippi, the Crucified with the Jewish cemetery of Giovanni Bellini and the crown of thorns of Caravaggio. Continue visiting the so-called Picture, which suggests a rapid excursus on the major artists of the seventeenth-century Florentine school. Accompanying pictorial and exposure some sculptures of Lorenzo Bartolini, among which there is a smaller version known dell'assai Trust in God

    Taking away Banchelli and then via San Vincenzo on the right opens the Piazza San Domenico.

    Chiesa di San Domenico
    Founded in 1281 and completed in the early fourteenth century, this church has a medieval facade coated on the bottom in green alberese and Prato and at the top in brick, with a contrast color of undoubted efficacy. In contrast with the outside medieval structure is the seventeenth-century interior, where it preserves the Annunciation by Matteo Rosselli.

    Museo Mural Painting
    The premises of the Dominican convent is currently housed in this museum, as the name suggests, are shown several detached frescos and many sinopie, among which those of Paolo Uccello frescoes painted in the cathedral of Prato.

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    Route B Outside the Walls

    Lovers of contemporary art can not visit without going Prato to visit the museum built on the avenue of the Republic, and designed by the Florentine Italian Rationalist Gamberoni.

    Center for Contemporary Art Luigi Pecci
    The museum complex consists of different environments including exhibition halls, exhibition spaces for collateral, educational workshops, a garden for the sculptures and an exhibition room of the permanent collection. This collection includes works by major artists of the twentieth century as a second Burri, Castellani, Kounellis.

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