Prato's Museo del Tessuto Celebrates 50 Years with Major Donation and Exhibition

The Museo del Tessuto in Prato, formally inaugurated on December 20, 1975, thanks to a donation of 612 antique textiles by entrepreneur and collector Loriano Bertini, marks its 50th anniversary with a significant new donation from physician and collector Giovanni Falletti. The donation comprises nearly two thousand objects, including 250 19th-century Japanese prints by artists such as Hokusai, Hiroshige, Kuniyoshi, and Utamaro II; European textiles from the 15th to 18th centuries; prints and engravings from the 16th to 19th centuries by Dürer, Van Leyden, Salvator Rosa, Piranesi, Max Klinger, and Lorenzo Viani; and over 1,000 objects including embroidery, ornamental bands, panels, masks, jewelry, and ritual weapons from Africa, Central Asia, East Asia, and South America. The exhibition "I Tesori di Seta. Capolavori tessili dalla donazione Falletti" runs from December 20, 2024 to December 21, 2025 at the Museo del Tessuto, curated by Daniela Degl'Innocenti with scientific consultancy by Roberta Orsi Landini. It presents a selection of works from the donation, focusing on textiles from the 15th to 18th centuries, including reused liturgical vestments. The exhibition features a chronological layout, a catalog published by Edifir in 2025, and educational multimedia tools including digital microscopes. The museum originated in the late 1940s from Professor Giuseppe Ponzecchi's idea to create a collection of antique textiles for teaching at the Istituto Tullio Buzzi.