Francesco di Marco Datini with his palace, seat of the Ceppo dei poveri, appears in Palazzo Pretorio in the 1415 fresco by Pietro di Miniato. The Palazzo Datini is recognisable by the monogram on the walls, and has the value of all the city’s secular and religious institutions.
This fresco from a few years after Francesco’s death illustrates what impact the man and the merchant had on the city of Prato already in the 15th century.
Starting precisely from our city, it will be possible to explore the various aspects that concurred in shaping the pragmatic personality of the merchant, who found himself operating in a historical context of transition. In fact, in the second half of the 14th century, he was affected by those changes of an ideological and economic nature that would profoundly undermine the certainties of the medieval era, opening up to a different vision of the world that was no longer only readable in religious terms but contemplated the intrinsic freedom of the individual. The latter would be extensively investigated by the ideological and cultural movement of Humanism.
It was from Prato that young Francesco Datini took the first steps in his career as a merchant. After losing both his parents in the plague epidemic of 1348, he decided to learn the art of haggling in a Florentine workshop, following a path followed by many enterprising young men in the society of the time.
Through the art of haberdashery and his strong skills, which allowed him to accumulate a small capital, Francesco left for Avignon, since 1305 the seat of the Papacy and one of the most flourishing trading places of the time.
It was not until 1383 that the merchant returned to Prato with his family, fulfilling his ambition as a man and a merchant. In fact, this fruitful period saw the building of the imposing city palace and the creation of the system of businesses that would definitively affirm his economic solidity go hand in hand.
From the 1490s, the palace built in the city served to host illustrious personages who came to Prato for political reasons or to honour the Belt. These included Florentine magistrates, ambassadors, cardinals and sovereigns.
Finally, the life of Francesco Datini came to an end in Prato in 1410. From being a morose administrator of his wealth accumulated during his lifetime, he succeeded in making his conclusion a new beginning.
With his testamentary will, Francesco destined his possessions to the creation of the Ceppo de’ poveri, the administration of which was totally entrusted to the city’s municipality, thus binding himself definitively to it.
The figure of the entrepreneurial merchant retains his modernity.
- The visit to the House Museum will allow us to delve into some thematic areas, such as
- The Datini Archive.
- The biographical events
- The building of the palazzo, the hiring of artists and masters, the function and use of the building.
The system of companies: a series of autonomous companies linked by the presence of an entrepreneur who held the majority stake.
Development of the system of companies, cities and localities involved, commercial sector of interest.
The Compagnie del Banco marks an important step in the evolution of religious thought that legitimises the figure of the banker and at the same time the banking system of the period. The letter of exchange, an example of this change.
The testamentary bequest.
