Silent witness of the political, civil, and military events of the city, dominating the main square with its austere and imposing structure, since 1284 Palazzo Pretorio has been the seat of the tribunal, prisons, and foreign magistracies, already expanded in the fourteenth century. Its essence radically changes in the eighteenth century, when the building's rooms become administrative offices of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany. In 1912, its current guise as a Museum is inaugurated, updated several times until the latest reorganization in 1998.

A fundamental stop for those visiting Tuscany, the Museum of Palazzo Pretorio in Prato offers visitors an exhibition path rich in masterpieces that trace the history and art of Prato from the Fourteenth to the Twentieth century. On the ground floor, the historical context is presented, with symbolic objects from the past. The large rooms dedicated to temporary exhibitions introduce visitors to the three upper floors, arranged following an ascending chronological criterion. Works that have marked the art of all times, including masterpieces by Bernardo Daddi, Donatello, della Robbia, Giovanni da Milano, Lorenzo Monaco, Filippo and Filippino Lippi, Battistello Caracciolo, Lorenzo Bartolini, and Jacques Lipchitz, follow one another in the grand halls, enhanced by the exhibition design project of architects Adolfo Natalini, Marco Magni, and Piero Guicciardini.