Verrocchio: Sculptor and Painter of Renaissance Florence

According to Isaacson (Leonardo da Vinci) Cosimo de' Medici took over his family's banking business in the mid-1430s and grew it into one of the largest and richest banks in Europe. Further, "by means of payoffs and plotting, Cosimo became the de facto ruler of Florence and his patronage made it the cradle of Renaissance art and humanism." His grandson Lorenzo -- dubbed the Magnificent -- would extend this patronage by sponsoring artists (Botticello and Michelangelo, for example) and workshops (Andrea del Verrocchio, Domenico Ghirlandaio) who were producing paintings and sculptures for the beautification of the city.

According to the National Gallery of Art, Verrocchio was one of the leading artists of late 15th-century Florence, as a sculptor, "the most important figure in the Renaissance between Donatello and Michelangelo." His works were "of unprecedented technical accomplishment and breathtaking naturalness and beauty."

Verrochio is the focus of an exhibition -- Verrocchio: Sculptor and Painter of Renaissance Florence -- currently on show at the National Gallery of Art (NGA). The exhibition showcases 50 pieces by Verrochio and associated artists and is arranged thematically to show Verrocchio as a sculptor, painter, teacher, and draftsman.

Leonardo da Vinci was apprenticed to Verrocchio and, in his biography of the former, Isaacson provides some insight into the latter's workshop and teaching practices. The shop was on two levels with the ground floor dedicated to production and assistants eating and sleeping together of the top floor. The training regime was intensive with studies around surface anatomy, mechanics, drawing techniques, and the effect of light and shade on material such as draperies

Objects were mass-produced by the students in pursuit of a goal of a constant flow of marketable art and artifacts. Verrocchio himself was trained as a goldsmith so left much of the painterly activities to others. He was a kind master; so much so that many of his students (Leonardo included) continued to live and work with him after their apprenticeships were completed. Notable students included Lorenzo di Credi, Pietro Perugini, Leonardo, Botticelli, and Ghirlandaio.

The exhibition featured shared works between Verrocchio and one or more of his students plus works attributable to some of his more famous students. In the painting arena, NGA views Verrocchio as forming "a direct link in the central chain of Florentine painting between his master Fra Filippo Lippi and his own pupil Leonardo da Vinci."

Andrea del Verrocchio, Leonardo da Vinci, and
Assistants
Tobias and the Angel, c. 1470
tempera on panel

It is generally held that Leonardo painted the dog and fish in the above painting.

Sandro Botticelli
Madonna and Child, c. 1470
Tempera on panel

Andrea del Verrocchio and Domenico Ghirlandaio
The Virgin Adoring the Christ Child, c. 1475/1480
Tempera and oil on panel transferred to canvas

Leonardo da Vinci
Portrait of Ginevra de' Benci, c. 1474/1478
Oil and tempera on panel

Andrea del Verrocchio and assistants
Madonna and Child with Two Angels, c. 1470/1474
Tempera on panel

Domenico Ghirlandaio
Madonna and Child, c. 1475

Verrocchio's greatest sculptural work is generally considered to be the Equestrian statue of Bartolomeo Colleoni in Venice, a piece that he did not live to see cast in bronze. In speaking of Verrocchio's skill as a sculptor, Isaacson saw his "ability to convey the subtleties of motion in a piece of still art" as one of his most under-appreciated talents. "More than most previous artists, Verrocchio imbued his statues with twists, turns, and flows."

Andrea del Verrocchio
David with the Head of Goliath, c. 1465
Bronze with partial gilding

Isaacson refers to David as one of Verrocchio's most captivating sculptures. "It quavers between expressing a childlike glory and a dawning realization of future leadrship; a cocky smile is caught in the moment of being transformed into resolution. Unlike Michelangelo's iconic marble statue of a muscular David as a man, Verrocchio's David seems to be a slightly effiminate and strikingly pretty boy of about fourteen." It has been speculated that Leonardo served as the model for David.

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Andrea del Verrocchio and assistant
Alexander the Great, c. 1480/1485
Marble

Giuliano de'Medici, c. 1475/1478
Terracotta with traces of polychromy

Lorenzo de' Medici, c. 1513/1520
Polychrome terracotta

Andrea del Verrocchio
Putto with a Dolphin,  c. 1465/1480
Bronze
(The first Renaissance sculpture created to be
equally beautiful from all angles)

Small but powerful exhibition which showcases the work of Verrocchio but, moreso, his influence on Renaissance art due to the students that he mentored; students who went on to attain greater acclaim than he did.

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