Art Of The Day Weekly

Verrocchio, the forgotten master of Leonardo

FLORENCE – Leonardo is the talk of the town, as always, and even more so now with the 500th anniversary of his death. But who could name his master, the one who trained him during the 1470s? While the creator of Mona Lisa (1452-1519) was rather a solitary genius, Andrea del Verrocchio (circa 1435-1488) was on the contrary a sort of orchestra director at the head of a buzzing workshop that received all the most prestigious commissions in Florence. That is probably what most hurts his renown, since being the great master of ceremonies that he was, he too often delegated his commissions. He was very gifted in the disciplines such as jewelry or monumental sculpture seen in the tomb of the Medici, but these became minor in comparison to painting. He therefore left no identifiable pictorial works. On the other hand, his students’ hands replaced his. That is where Leonardo, but mainly Lorenzo di Credi, Ghirlandaio or Perugino step in! The single fact of having trained this remarkable generation should make of him a deus ex machina and this exhibition – surprisingly the first true retrospective dedicated to him – should help set things straight when bringing together his works and those of his disciples. Like all great heroes, Verrocchio died in a manner worthy of the greatest novels: according to Vasari, he passed away in June 1488 in Venice following an effort while casting the monument to Colleoni. His heir, Lorenzo di Credi, brought the body back to Florence, his native town.
• Verrocchio, il maestro di Leonardo at Palazzo Strozzi, from 9 March to 14 July 2019.

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