The exhibition The Historian and the Merchant. Federigo Melis and Francesco Datini, curated by Angela Orlandi and set up by the International Institute of Economic History "F. Datini" Foundation of Prato, will be open to the public at the Palazzo Pretorio Museum from May 12 to October 26, 2025, in conjunction with the "LVI Study Week", in collaboration with the Bank of Italy-MUDEM, the Palazzo Pretorio Museum, the State Archive of Prato, the University of Florence, and the Galileo Museum in Florence.

The initiative is organized on the occasion of the seventieth anniversary of the visit to Prato by the Presidents of the Republic Luigi Einaudi and Giovanni Gronchi, to inaugurate the International Exhibition of the Datini Archive organized by Federigo Melis at Palazzo Pretorio in 1955.

On display - on the ground floor of the Palazzo Pretorio Museum, in the rooms of the former Monte dei Pegni - objects, photographs, documents, and videos follow a structured path in seven sections, revolving around the figures of "the historian" (Federigo Melis) and "the merchant" (Francesco Datini), delving into the figure of Federigo Melis, founder of the Datini Institute Foundation, the genesis and development of the great exhibition of 1955, aspects of medieval economic life, the story of Francesco Datini, the historical relationships of the Datini Institute Foundation with "the historian and the merchant", the parallel events of the marital relationships of Melis and Datini with their respective wives, important accomplices of their success, and a section with a documentary made by the Prato director Tommaso Santi. A fascinating journey through time between history, culture, and economy.