Square Form with Cut by Henry Moore

It is the first major work of contemporary art to be given to the city of Prato: it is Square Form with Cut, a white marble sculpture created by Henry Moore, one of the greatest exponents of 20th-century art. Placed in Piazza San Marco, with the Calvana Mountains in the background, the work stands where Porta Fiorentina, demolished in the late 19th century, once stood. It was installed here in 1974, becoming a symbol of modernity and marking the beginning of a new course of street furniture in Prato.

To make the sculpture, Moore personally selected 30 large blocks of marble from the quarries of Mount Altissimo, in the Apuan Alps. The artist gave the piece the appearance of an organic expansion, as if it were generated or animated by a force within the material.