Museum of Fabrics in Prato
The most important museum in Italy dedicated to textile art
The Museum of Fabrics in Prato, one of the most important in the world dedicated to textile art and technology, offers a journey of discovery of ancient and contemporary fabrics and textile traditions of the city.
The building that houses the museum is exceptional: it is the ancient “Cimatoria Campolmi”, one of the most ancient factories in the territory dating back to the 19th century and which is located right in the heart of Prato, inside the medieval walls.
A true monument to textile industrial archaeology, inside which today you can admire the Museum's splendid collections of fabrics produced around the world from ancient times to the present day.
On display in the Historical Hall are Coptic and pre-Columbian fabric fragments as well as, dating from the 4th to 6th centuries, also 14th century fabrics, such as tablecloths from Perugia, lampas from Lucca, Venetian and Florentine velvets dating back to the Renaissance.
And again rich gold and silver brocaded lampas from the early 17th century, not forgetting the fabrics and the sketches drawn by artists such as Raoul Dufy, Giò Pomodoro and Bruno Munari. The collection is enriched by some nineteenth-century clothing, eighteenth-century vests, lace, and 19th and 20th century ethnic textiles from India, Indonesia and Yemen, Central and South America, China and Japan.
The Museum also devotes some space to the history of Prato as a textile city: an itinerary illustrates the production of woollen cloth from the Middle Ages to the 20th century, through a series of reconstructions, documents and period objects.
The contemporary section displays a selection of fabrics produced in the Prato district that are particularly significant for their technological innovation. In addition, the museum always organizes exhibits and temporary installations on ancient and contemporary fabric, fashion and design.
Information on accessibility: museodeltessuto.it
