Room 6

The portraits of Prato’s illustrious men of the 18th and 19th centuries were located in the Council Chamber before being moved to the Gonfalone (Standard) Hall. These paintings include known personalities belonging to important families that marked the history of the city.

Among the illustrious men displayed in this room, portrayed at the behest of Prato’s Municipality to honour their memory, is Cesare Guasti (1822-1889), considerable person of letters and local history and art connoisseur; it was his younger brother Gaetano, municipal secretary and then Major of Prato from 1867 to 1870, who instituted the Municipal Gallery in 1858.

Giuseppe Silvestri and Gaetano Magnolfi played a significant role in Prato’s society too: the first was a priest and a teacher interested in the study of literature and language, who was elected rector of Collegio Cicognini in 1831, later holding a similar role in Perugia and Pistoia. He was correspondent member of the Accademia della Crusca since 1855. The latter was a benefactor, known for the foundation of the Technological Orphanage della Pietà in 1838 and for the constitution of a bank in Prato, which later became the Cassa di Risparmio di Prato.