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Shield with seven coats of arms of major city institutions

Zanobi Poggini 1545-1555

Audio description of the artwork

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This tondo painting is a precious testimony to the history of Prato as it represents the coats of arms of the city's major welfare institutions. It dates back to the mid-16th century and has been attributed, based on stylistic considerations, to the painter Zanobi Poggini.

Technical information

Author: Zanobi Poggini
Title: Shield with seven coats of arms of major city institutions
Date: 1545-1555
Material and technique: Oil on panel
Size: diametro: 114 cm
Location: Palazzo Pretorio Museum
Ground Floor

In the centre of the shield are depicted the coats of arms of both the Medici and Toledo families, recalling the marriage between Cosimo I de' Medici and Eleanor as well as the political subjugation of the city of Prato to Florence. All around are the other coats of arms, set within vines, except for that of the municipality, which rests on a flower meadow. We find the institution of the Opera delle Carceri (Prison Work), recognisable by a grate, the Opera del Duomo (Cathedral Works) with the Sacred Girdle, the Spedale della Misericorda (Hospital of Mercy), with a bandaged child, and again the Spedale di San Silvestro (Hospital of St. Silvestro), the Ceppo Nuovo (New Stump), the Ceppo Vecchio (Old Stump) and, finally, Monte Pio.

Scholars have identified Zanobi Poggini's hand in the vivid colours of the pictorial palette and in the rendering of the weaving of plants, as well as being supported by the fact that the painter had numerous artistic commissions in the city. As an example only, mention should be made of Saint Ursula protecting the virgins, exhibited in this same museum, while his “Effusio sanguinis” (the shedding of blood) is preserved in Cathedral of Prato.