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The large hall on the second floor, formerly the Podestà's flats (as evidenced by the large stone fireplace on the right), is dedicated to a selection of altarpieces of considerable size.
The paintings date from the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries and were mainly acquired from churches and monasteries in the city. They were transferred to the municipality following ecclesiastical suppressions in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. These include works by Jacopo Morandini (known as Poppi), Mario Balassi and Domenico Ferretti.
In the 16th century, following the Counter-Reformation, figurative art was characterised by persuasive and engaging language that was easy to comprehend. Catherine de' Ricci (1522-1590) - the saint from Prato - who lived in the Dominican monastery of San Vincenzo for a long time, contributed significantly to the atmosphere of religious fervor in the city.
To the second half of the century belong two paintings from the convent of St. Catherine, the Mystic Marriage by Giovan Battista Naldini and the Circumcision by Paolo degli Organi from Prato. One of Poppi's most eminent pictorial inventions of the same years is a painting depicting Tobias and the Angel, which is from the ancient Compagnia dell'Angelo Raffaele. The elongated figures and sophisticated ornamentation of the garments demonstrate the characteristics of the modern manner, especially Pontormo's.
At the beginning of the 17th century, Leonardo Mascagni, an artist from Prato, received numerous commissions in the city. On display is the Vocation of St. Matthew - a work from the monastery of the same name (later suppressed) - which is still connected to the late 16th-century culture.
Refined Florentine artists worked in the city in the following period. One of these was Bilivert, who painted the original Annunciation for the church of Saint Francis - when the influence of the Medici court became decisive.
In 1653 Grand Duke Ferdinand II granted Prato the title of City and commissioned a series of works entrusted mainly to Florentine artists. For example, Balassi, by whom two valuable works (in addition to the striking Miracle of St Nicholas of Tolentino) commissioned by the Prato community for the Palazzo Comunale are exhibited.
The three large 18th-century altarpieces are of the highest quality, two of which were made at the same time for the monastery church of San Matteo, such as Sigismondo Betti's Miracle of St. Nicholas of Tolentino and Giovan Domenico Ferretti's extraordinary Annunciation. However, the splendid Renaissance sanctuary of Santa Maria delle Carceri was adorned with the altarpiece depicting St. Catherine of Alexandria by Francesco Conti.
