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Prato (24,9Km)Prato, an ancient textile city

Vinci (25,9Km)Leonardo da Vinci, the Renaissance man, Tuscan excellence

Prato, an ancient textile city

Prato, Palazzo Pretorio

A bit the symbol of the city is the beautiful fountain that we find in the Piazza del Comune.

The chubby boy sitting on bunches of grapes can only be the god Bacchus when he was young. The decorative bronze fountain was created in the 18th century when Prato obtained the rights of the city. In the square, however, we see a copy, the original we find not far in the atrium of the Palazzo Comunale.

This building seems to be from the same time as the fountain but the appearance deceives. It was actually built in the Middle Ages, in the '200. In the beautiful Council Hall we can admire two frescoes of the '400 and a collection of portraits of the '600.

Prato has always been the city of textiles and the interesting Textile Museum is located on the ground floor of the Palazzo Comunale.

Also on the same square we also see the Palazzo Pretorio. The ancient construction is clearly divided into several parts. It was the old town hall and in the '400 since the merger of three palaces this building was composed.

You can still see the old houses clearly, colors and styles are very different within the same building. The red part is the oldest part, of the '300 while the part with the beautiful windows was from the '400. The unified palace was the seat of the municipal government and the court.

The textile merchant Francesco Datini also dealt with fabrics in the '400. He was definitely rich and had a building built that took his name. He was not paying attention to the expense and important artists frescoed walls and ceilings. The exterior was also decorated but those paintings are almost completely invisible today.

Datini hosted popes and kings in his luxurious home. At his death, he had all his documents, correspondence and accounting walled in a narrow compartment in the building.

This treasure of information was found only in the 1900s and is a very important source for scholars. The collection is now located in the Datini Archive, inside the building.

scritto da wUmrLVWz wUmrLVWz - ultima modifica il 16/09/2021

Leonardo da Vinci, the Renaissance man, Tuscan excellence

Even this genius, like Dante or Michelangelo (.. and we could list many others), was born in the heart of Tuscany. What does this Earth have that manages to give light to characters of this caliber? Leonardo da Vinci is perhaps the best known character in the entire Italian Renaissance. He was born in a farmhouse in the town of Anchiano which is located 3 km from Vinci in 1452 and died in Amboise in 1519.

His career as an artist began at the age of 17 in Andrea del Verrocchio's Workshop in Florence with drawing and painting. But during his life he shot the courts of Italy also arriving in Provence, becoming an “handyman” artist: painter, sculptor, engineer, musician, scientist from the natural point of view and also technical, architect, literate, inventor. His native home in Vinci is today a Museum, to it also belongs to the Leonardian Museum that makes us know the Master as an engineer and inventor, through its drawings, machinery and models of the latter.

He was a true thinker of the Renaissance, who wanted to understand the world, the nature of light, of movement, the functioning of the human body and was endowed with a fantasy and ability expressive out of the ordinary. Who does not know his drawing called 'Vitruvian Man'? Leonardo carried out the thought of the architect Vitruvius, according to which human proportions are equal to those of nature. By combining geometry, anatomy and optics, he laid the mathematical basis of an artistic representation. So coming to the conclusion that the measure of everything was man and that this model of proportion was the expression of divine harmony. In Vinci, arriving under the walls of the town we have in front of the three-dimensional model of this very famous design. As an environment worthy of this thought Vinci and its typically Tuscan landscape invite to aspire to its beauty and harmony.

The clay color of the dry walls of the terraces and buildings of the historic center, the hills full of vineyards and centuries-old olives that could perhaps even tell the secrets of young Leonardo make us understand where the sharp sense of aesthetics of this unique and fascinating Master had its roots.

scritto da wUmrLVWz wUmrLVWz - ultima modifica il 29/09/2021

Visit Piastre - Tourism and travel tips for your vacation or weekend.

Travel guides and videos

Prato (24,9Km)Prato, an ancient textile city

Vinci (25,9Km)Leonardo da Vinci, the Renaissance man, Tuscan excellence

Prato, an ancient textile city

Leonardo da Vinci, the Renaissance man, Tuscan excellence

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