Room 1

The Tintori collection was donated to Prato’s Municipality by the Elena e Leonetto Tintori Association in 1993.
It consists in little-known paintings dating back to the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries, artworks of particular quality representing original and unusual themes. This gathering was formed between 1955 and 1980, starting from the antique market and developing through Leonetto Tintori’s trips, meetings and personal friendships.
The Queen Semiramis, a masterpiece of 17th Florentine painting, is part of this nucleus: it was painted by Francesco Montelatici called Cecco Bravo in 1630 and it is displayed on the second floor in Palazzo Pretorio Museum. Here in the Town Hall the visitor can also admire other works by Tintori himself, like his Self-portrait. 

The Study for Bellerophon taming Pegasus is part of the collection of 21 plaster sculptures, 43 drawings and a bronze statue donated in 2011 and 2013 to the Municipality of Prato by the Jacques and Yulla Lipchitz Foundation in New York, also thanks to its president Hanno Mott.

This prestigious nucleus – a unique collection in Italy – is almost completely on display on the third floor in Palazzo Pretorio Museum: it sheds light on the work of Jacques Lipchitz, considered the first Cubist sculptor, giving us a better understanding of his creative genesis, following the trends and the aspirations of the 20th century art.

Jacques Lipchitz carried out this plaster studio in 1964, when he was given the task of creating a sculpture for the entrance to Columbia University School of Law in New York. Taking inspiration from the myth of Bellerophon taming Pegasus by using a golden bridle, Lipchitz symbolically represents the command of human intelligence, here personified by Bellerophon, over the winged horse’s wild nature. So, in conclusion, the sculpture celebrates the principle and the value of the Law.