PRATO IN TOSCANA, a town and episcopal see of Tus cany, Italy, in the province of Florence, II m. by rail N.W. of Florence, 207 ft. above sea-level. Pop. (1931), 26,868, town; 67,781, commune. It is situated on the Bisenzio, and was domi nated by a castle built by Frederick II. (c. 1250). The cathedral was begun in the 12th century; to this period belongs the narrow nave with its wide arches; the raised transepts and the chapels were added by Giovanni Pisano in 1317-1320; the campanile dates from 1340, while the facade, also of alternate white sand stone and green serpentine, belongs to 1413. It has a fine doorway with a bas-relief by Andrea della Robbia over it and a lovely open air pulpit, erected in 1439 by Donatello and Michelozzo for dis playing the Virgin's girdle, brought from the Holy Land by a knight of Prato in 113o. The pulpit itself has beautiful reliefs of dancing children; beneath it is a splendid bronze capital. The Chapel of the Girdle has a statue of the Virgin by Giovanni Pisano, and a handsome bronze open-work screen. The frescoes
in the choir, with scenes from the life of St. John the Baptist and St. Stephen, are by Fra Filippo Lippi and are his best work.
The massive old Palazzo Pretorio (13th century) contains a small but good picture gallery. A beautiful Madonna by Filippino Lippi (1498) is in a small street shrine at the corner of the Via S. Margherita. The Madonna del Buon Consiglio has some good reliefs by Andrea della Robbia, by whom is also the beautiful frieze in the Madonna delle Carceri. This church, by Giuliano da Sangallo (1485-1491), is a Greek cross, with barrel vaults over the arms, and a dome ; it is a fine work, and the decoration of the exterior in marble of different colours (un finished) is of a noble simplicity. The industries of Prato em brace the manufacture of woollens (174 establishments in the Val Bisenzio), straw-plaiting, etc.
See E. Corradini, Prato (Bergamo, i9o5) ; R. Papini, Prato in Toscana, zgro.