Cattedrale di Santo Stefano

Prato Cathedral combines Romanesque and Gothic architecture with important Renaissance commissions. White alberese and green serpentine band its exterior, while Filippo Lippi's frescoes fill the main chapel with scenes from the lives of Saint Stephen and John the Baptist.

Why it matters

The cathedral's artistic history is closely connected with devotion to the Sacra Cintola, revered as the Virgin Mary's girdle. The external pulpit gave public display of the relic an architectural setting facing the square.

What to notice

Donatello and Michelozzo's pulpit of 1433–1438 has reliefs of dancing figures; the original sculpted panels belong to the cathedral museum. Lippi's cycle includes the Funeral of Saint Stephen and the Feast of Herod. Andrea della Robbia's glazed lunette depicts the Madonna and Child with Saints Stephen and Lawrence. Paolo Uccello and Andrea di Giusto contributed frescoes to the Assunta chapel.

Context and history

A parish church existed here by the tenth century. Romanesque rebuilding associated with Guidetto preceded later Gothic additions, including the facade campaign of 1385–1457. Agnolo Gaddi decorated the relic chapel in the 1390s. Lippi's work of 1452–1465 added a further Renaissance layer to a church shaped by both civic patronage and Marian devotion.