Frommer's Review
There was once the Pieve di Santo Stefano in the center of the Prato of the 900s, but between 1211 and 1457 a new building with Romanesque green-and-white striping rose on the site to become Prato's Duomo. The facade has a glazed terra-cotta Madonna and Sts. Stefano and Lorenzo (1489) by Andrea della Robbia above the main door. The beautiful Pulpit of the Sacred Girdle hangs off the facade's right corner, from which Prato's most revered relic, the Virgin Mary's girdle, is displayed five times yearly. The pulpit is a Michelozzo (design) and Donatello (sculpted friezes) collaborative effort (1434-38). The frolicking cherubs around the base are cast replacements for Donatello's originals, now kept in the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo .
Inside the church on the left is the Cappella della Cintola (Chapel of the Sacred Girdle), entirely frescoed (1392-95) by Agnolo Gaddi. On top of the altar stands one of Giovanni Pisano's finest sculptures, a small marble Madonna and Child (1317). Alas, popping a few coins in the box doesn't buy much light.
The nave pulpit was carved by Mino da Fiesole and Antonio Rossellino (1469-73). To the right of the high altar is the Cappella dell'Assunzione (Chapel of the Assumption), frescoed with scenes from the lives of St. Stephen and the Virgin.
The frescoes (1452-66) covering the walls of the choir behind the high altar -- the Life of St. Stephen on the left wall and St. John the Baptist on the right -- comprise one of the masterpieces of Filippo Lippi. This randy, monkish painter asked if a certain Lucrezia Buti, a beautiful young novice from the nearby convent, could model for his Madonnas. The nuns agreed, Filippo promptly seduced her, and the two ran off, eventually having a son, Filippino Lippi, who became an important painter in his own right. Supposedly Filippo did actually use Lucrezia in the paintings -- she's the graceful flowing figure of Salome dancing into the banquet of Herod on the right wall. Lippi portrayed himself, along with Fra' Diamante and others of the assistants who helped him here, on the left wall among the crowd mourning the passing of St. Stephen. (They're the little red-hatted group on the far right; Filippo is third in from the end.) Sadly, the choir has been closed to visitors since the mid-1990s, when someone armed with a paintbrush decided to add his own touch to Lippi's works. They have just undergone an extensive face-lift and reopened to the public in May 2007. Guided tours for groups of 15 to 30 people -- available, on request, in English, French, Spanish, German, or Russian -- cost 5€ ($6.50) per person and must be booked in advance. The hour-long tours are given on Thursdays at 3:30 and 4:30pm, Saturdays at 10 and 11am and 3:30 and 4:30pm, and Sundays at 3:30, 4:30, and 5:30pm. To book, call tel. 0574-24-112 or stop by the tourist office. Individuals can visit Monday to Saturday 10am to 5pm and Sunday 3 to 5pm.
Note: This information was accurate when it was published, but can change without
notice. Please be sure to confirm all rates and details directly with the companies in question before
planning your trip.
