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The large hall on the first floor, with its painted wooden truss roof, opens with a section dedicated to late Gothic polyptychs from the 14th century. Among these, the double predella by Giovanni da Milano certainly stands out.
Two in-depth studies are dedicated to this imposing and precious work, with a view to increasing accessibility: a tactile relief replicating the wooden construction of the polyptych and a touch screen with audio-video content that is also translated into Italian and international sign languages.
The Museum's collection of polyptychs recounts the evolution of Tuscan painting in the period just before the blossoming of the Renaissance, which had in Prato one of its most innovative and vital lands.
Toward the middle of the century, a major event took place: the creation of the imposing altarpiece - painted by Giovanni da Milano - for the ancient “Pellegrinaio” in the Hospital Spedale della Misericordia. The polyptych with the Madonna with Child and Saints (1355-1360) is considered a masterpiece among the works of the painter, one of the most significant protagonists of 14th-century Italian painting: Tuscan classicism and the spontaneous and realistic narrative of the Lombards coexist harmoniously in this polyptych.
There was a decisive influence of Agnolo Gaddi and his magnificent frescoes in the Chapel of the Sacred Girdle (1392-1395) at the end of the 14th century in Prato. A taste for narrative and an appreciation for decorative elements was later adopted by Lorenzo Monaco in his dazzling triptych Madonna and Child with Saints (1408-1413), during which he evolved toward the sophisticated calligraphy of the International Style, destined, however, to remain a singular experience in Prato.
A more descriptive tone characterises the work of Pietro di Miniato, who with his brother Antonio dominated the artistic scene in Prato in the first decades of the 15th century and to whom we owe the monumental polyptych with the Coronation of the Virgin (1411-1413). Pietro and Antonio are also the authors of the fresco Saint Stephen and Saint John the Baptist Presenting the City of Prato to Christ(1414) preserved on the ground floor of Palazzo Pretorio.
The imposing Madonna and Child Enthroned with Saints (1424) by Mariotto di Nardo is richly textured over several layers and striking due to its bold colour combinations. The polyptych with the Madonna with Child and Saints (1435) by Andrea di Giusto reveals the eclecticism of the artist, defined by Roberto Longhi as “a rustic interpreter of Angelico”.
