Prato Cathedral

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Prato Cathedral Duomo di Prato; Cattedrale di Santo Stefano (in Italian)
Roman Catholic
Province	Prato
Location
Location	Prato, Italy
Geographic coordinates	43°52′55″N 11°05′52″E / 43.88194°N 11.09778°E / 43.88194; 11.09778
Architecture
Type	Church
Style	Romanesque
Groundbreaking	1100 ca.[citation needed]
Completed	1500 ca.

Prato Cathedral, or Cathedral of Saint Stephen, (

, the first Christian martyr.

It is one of the most ancient churches in the city, and was already in existence in the 10th century. It was built in several successive stages in the Romanesque style. The church contains a number of notable works of art, in particular fine sculpture.

History

The church of Saint Stephen was built in a green meadow (Prato) after an appearance of the

di Santo Stefano. A substantial expansion of the church building began in the 15th century, enlarging the nave and aisles, and erecting the bell tower (completed 1356); this transformed the modest building into the Gothic-Romanesque building we see today.

During the 14th century the cathedral acquired an important

. The Cintola Chapel was also built at this time to house the relic.

In the early 15th century, a new façade or west front was added in the International Gothic style, in front of the old one. In the space between the two was created a narthex or corridor leading to the external pulpit, built by Michelozzo and decorated by Donatello between 1428 and 1438. The seven original reliefs of the parapet were removed from the pulpit in 1967 and can be seen today in Prato's cathedral museum.

The façade is architecturally simple, the shape of the building informing the new structure so that its low-pitched central roof and sloping side aisles mark the roofline, which is enlivened with an open parapet of simple Gothic tracery, uniting the building with the sky. The façade is divided into three sections by shallow buttresses or pilasters. That part above the springing of the door arch is faced with marble in bold contrasting stripes, while the lower part is pale-coloured but much stained in some areas, possibly from the absorption of pollutants.

The façade has a single central portal with a lintelled doorway surmounted by a Gothic arch. In the lunette over the door is a glazed terracotta sculpture by Andrea della Robbia depicting the Madonna with Saints Stephen and John.

Below the central gable, a decorative clock is set into the façade, in place of a central window. It is surrounded by segments of the contrasting marble and forms part of the harmonious design.

The frescoes of the transept chapel are also of the 15th century, but are in the Renaissance painting style.

Interior

Internally, the church, built on a

, were added in the 17th century.

The north aisle houses a notable

Ridolfo del Ghirlandaio

.

Transept

A small staircase leads from the old church to the 14th-century transept, which has five high

has three works by the American artist Robert Morris (2000–2001).

In the south arm of the transept is the Renaissance tabernacle by the Da Maiano brothers: the Madonna with Child terracotta (1480) is by the more famous Benedetto.

The chapels can be accessed through a 17th-century

in polychrome marble, for which parts of the Renaissance choir were re-used (including crests and cherubim).

Transept chapels

In the south arm of the transept, the Vinaccesi Chapel houses a notable Deposition of Christ from the 13th century. It also has 19th-century frescoes by the Pratese painter Alessandro Franchi.

Next is the Assumption Chapel, which was frescoed in 1435-1436 by the so-called Master of Prato and by a young Paolo Uccello, who painted the Stories of the Virgin and St. Stephen, completed by Andrea di Giusto in the lower section. They show a bizarre fantasy of enchanted figures caught in a wide range of brilliant colors, and surrounded by Brunelleschi-like architectures.

In the main chapel, or

.

The Manassei Chapel was frescoed by a pupil of Agnolo Gaddi in the early 15th century with Stories of St Margaret and St James. The last chapel on the left, the Chapel of the Inghirami, houses a funerary monument attributed to Benedetto da Maiano and a stained glass window from the early 16th century.

Cintola Chapel

The Cintola Chapel (

by the Virgin Mary during the Assumption. It was brought to Prato in the 13th century.

The chapel has frescoes of Stories of the Virgin and the Cintola by Agnolo Gaddi (1392–1395), which are notable for their luminous colors. Also noteworthy is the panorama of Prato in the Michael's Return scene.

The 18th-century altar, which encloses the Cintola, is crowned by a marble Madonna with Child (c. 1301), and is considered one of Giovanni Pisano's masterpieces.

Images

• 
  Bell tower
• 
  Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament - painting
• 
  Chapel of the Assumption by Paolo Uccello
• 
  Inside pulpit
• 
  Steps
• 
  Nave
• 
  Cloister
• 
  Company of Saint Stephen - underground chapel

External links

• Media related to Duomo (Prato) at Wikimedia Commons
• Diocese of Prato - Cathedral page (in Italian)
• [1] (in Italian)
• [2] (in Italian)
• [3] (in Italian)