Prato - Municipal Gallery

(Local Name: Museo Civico) The Museo Civico (Municipal Gallery), founded in 1850, which is housed in the Palazzo Pretorio, has an interesting collection, particularly of the 14th and 15th century Florentine schools. Items of special interest on the first and second floors are the Tabernacle of St Margaret, by Filippo Lippi (1458; restored from fragments after destruction in an air raid in 1944); the Bacchus Fountain, by Ferdinando Tacca (1665); scenes from the legend of the Virgin's Girdle, attributed to Bernardo Daddi (14th century); a polyptych by Bernardo Daddi, "Virgin and Child with Saints" (c. 1328); a polyptych by Giovanni da Milano, "Madonna Enthroned with Saints" (c. 1354); Filippo Lippi's "Madonna del Ceppo" (1453); Francesco Botticini's "Madonna with Saints" (15th century); Filippino Lippi's "Virgin and Child" (1503); and a fresco of the Virgin and Child by Fra Bartolommeo (15th-16th centuries). On the third floor are works of the 16th to 18th centuries. Opposite the Palazzo Pretorio is the present Palazzo Comunale, which has lost its original appearance as a result of 19th century restoration work.