Piazza Sant'Agostino

Once a market for firewood, Piazza Sant’Agostino is now a quiet square in Prato’s historic centre, with contemporary sculptures by Salvatore Cipolla set around the church of Sant’Agostino.

Why it matters

The square’s history reflects its changing role in the city: from a place of commerce to an open-air setting where historic architecture and contemporary art meet. The church at its centre was founded by Augustinian monks in 1270 and developed over the following centuries.

What to notice

The church’s facade combines pebbles, brick and stone, with a fifteenth-century portal decorated by three coats of arms: those of Francesco Datini, the Commune and the Ceppo Nuovo. Inside, three aisles are divided by columns with water-leaf capitals. The apsidal chapels preserve detached frescoes from the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, and the seventeenth-century side altars contain paintings by Giovan Battista Naldini, Lorenzo Lippi, Empoli, Giovanni Bizzelli and an artist associated with Cigoli.

Across the square, Salvatore Cipolla’s contemporary sculptures provide a contrast with the church’s medieval and early-modern fabric.

Context and history

The church’s three-aisle form developed through the fifteenth century, and eight side altars were added in the seventeenth century. A bomb damaged the apse during the Second World War, destroying wooden furnishings made by a fifteenth-century Pratese artist. Restoration work in 1964–1966 repaired the church, and the Sacramentini have cared for it since then.