Andrea del Verrocchio (, , ; – 1488), born Andrea di Michele di Francesco de' Cioni, was a
sculptor
Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...
,
Italian painter
Following is a list of Italian painters (in alphabetical order) who are notable for their art.
A
*Niccolò dell'Abbate (1509/12–1571)
* Giuseppe Abbati (1836–1868)
*Angiolo Achini (1850–1930)
*Pietro Adami (c. 1730)
*Livio Agresti (1508 ...
and
goldsmith
A goldsmith is a metalworker who specializes in working with gold and other precious metals. Nowadays they mainly specialize in jewelry-making but historically, goldsmiths have also made silverware, platters, goblets, decorative and servicea ...
who was a master of an important workshop in
Florence
Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany Regions of Italy, region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilan ...
. He apparently became known as ''Verrocchio'' after the surname of his master, a goldsmith. Few paintings are attributed to him with certainty, but a number of important painters were trained at his workshop. His pupils included
Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 14522 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, Drawing, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially res ...
,
Pietro Perugino
Pietro Perugino (, ; – 1523), born Pietro Vannucci, was an Italian Renaissance painter of the Umbrian school, who developed some of the qualities that found classic expression in the High Renaissance. Raphael was his most famous pupil.
Ea ...
and
Lorenzo di Credi
Lorenzo di Credi (1456/59 – January 12, 1537) was an Italian Renaissance painter and sculptor best known for his paintings of religious subjects. He is most famous for having worked in the studio of Andrea del Verrocchio at the same time ...
. His greatest importance was as a sculptor and his last work, the
Equestrian statue of Bartolomeo Colleoni
The Equestrian statue of Bartolomeo Colleoni is a Renaissance sculpture in Campo Santi Giovanni e Paolo, Venice, Italy, by Andrea del Verrocchio in 1480–1488. Portraying the condottiero Bartolomeo Colleoni (who served for a long time unde ...
in
Venice
Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...
, is generally accepted as a
masterpiece.
Life
Verrocchio was born in Florence in around 1435. His father, Michele di Francesco Cioni, initially worked as a tile and brick maker, then later as a tax collector. Verrocchio never married, and had to provide financial support for some members of his family. He was at first apprenticed to a goldsmith. It has been suggested that he was later apprenticed to
Donatello
Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi ( – 13 December 1466), better known as Donatello ( ), was a Florentine sculptor of the Renaissance period. Born in Florence, he studied classical sculpture and used this to develop a complete Renaissance s ...
, but there is no evidence of this and
John Pope-Hennessy
Sir John Wyndham Pope-Hennessy (13 December 1913 – 31 October 1994), was a British art historian. Pope-Hennessy was Director of the Victoria and Albert Museum between 1967 and 1973, and Director of the British Museum between 1974 and 1976. ...
considered that it is contradicted by the style of his early works. It has been suggested that he was trained as a painter under
Fra Filippo Lippi
Filippo Lippi ( – 8 October 1469), also known as Lippo Lippi, was an Italian painter of the Quattrocento (15th century) and a Carmelite Priest.
Biography
Lippi was born in Florence in 1406 to Tommaso, a butcher, and his wife. He was orph ...
. Little is known about his life. His main works are dated in his last twenty years and his advancement owed much to the patronage of Lorenzo de' Medici and his son Piero. His workshop was in Florence where he was a member of the
Guild of St Luke
The Guild of Saint Luke was the most common name for a city guild for painters and other artists in early modern Europe, especially in the Low Countries. They were named in honor of the Evangelist Luke, the patron saint of artists, who was ident ...
. Several great artists like
Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 14522 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, Drawing, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially res ...
and
Lorenzo di Credi
Lorenzo di Credi (1456/59 – January 12, 1537) was an Italian Renaissance painter and sculptor best known for his paintings of religious subjects. He is most famous for having worked in the studio of Andrea del Verrocchio at the same time ...
passed through his workshop as apprentices. Beyond this, artists like
Domenico Ghirlandaio,
Francesco Botticini
Francesco Botticini (real name Francesco di Giovanni, 1446 – 16 January 1498) was an Italian painter of the Early Renaissance. He was born in Florence, where he remained active until his death in 1498. Although there are only few documented wor ...
, and
Pietro Perugino
Pietro Perugino (, ; – 1523), born Pietro Vannucci, was an Italian Renaissance painter of the Umbrian school, who developed some of the qualities that found classic expression in the High Renaissance. Raphael was his most famous pupil.
Ea ...
were also involved and their early works can be hard to distinguish from works by Verrocchio.
Giovanni Santi
Giovanni Santi (c. 1435 – 1 August 1494) was an Italian painter, decorator, and the father of Raphael. He was born in 1435 at Colbordolo in the Duchy of Urbino. He studied under Piero della Francesca and was influenced by Fiorenzo di Lorenz ...
records that
Botticelli,
Luca Signorelli
Luca Signorelli ( – 16 October 1523) was an Italian Renaissance painter from Cortona in Tuscany, who was noted in particular for his ability as a draftsman and his use of foreshortening. His massive frescos of the ''Last Judgment'' (1499–15 ...
, and a young
Filippino Lippi
Filippino Lippi (April 1457 – 18 April 1504) was an Italian painter working in Florence, Italy during the later years of the Early Renaissance and first few years of the High Renaissance.
Biography
Filippino Lippi was born in Prato, Tusc ...
also visited or worked in Verrocchio's studio. Of the artist's pedagogy the Florentine poet Ugolino Verino wrote: "Whatever painters have that is good they drank from Verrocchio’s spring".
At the end of his life, Verrocchio opened a new workshop in
Venice
Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...
, where he was working on the statue of
Bartolomeo Colleoni
Bartolomeo Colleoni (; 1400 – 2 November 1475) was an Italian condottiero, who became captain-general of the Republic of Venice. Colleoni "gained reputation as the foremost tactician and disciplinarian of the 15th century".''Websters New B ...
, leaving the Florentine workshop in charge of Lorenzo di Credi. He died in Venice in 1488.
Painting
![Baptism of Christ by Andrea del Verrocchio](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/48/Baptism_of_Christ_by_Andrea_del_Verrocchio.jpg)
Despite the importance of Verrocchio's workshop in the training of younger painters, very few paintings are universally recognised as his own work and there are many problems of attribution.
A painting of the Madonna with seated child in
tempera
Tempera (), also known as egg tempera, is a permanent, fast-drying painting medium consisting of colored pigments mixed with a water-soluble binder medium, usually glutinous material such as egg yolk. Tempera also refers to the paintings done ...
on panel (now in the
Berlin State Museums
The Berlin State Museums (german: Staatliche Museen zu Berlin) are a group of institutions in Berlin, Germany, comprising seventeen museums in five clusters, several research institutes, libraries, and supporting facilities. They are overseen ...
,
Gemäldegalerie) is considered an early work of 1468–1470.
A painting in the
National Gallery
The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current Director ...
in London (cat. no.NG2508) of the Virgin and Child with two angels in tempera on panel, which had not previously been attributed to Verrocchio, was cleaned and restored about 2010 and is now attributed to him with a date of about 1467–1469.
A small painting on panel of
Tobias
Tobias is the transliteration of the Greek which is a translation of the Hebrew biblical name he, טוֹבִיה, Toviyah, JahGod is good, label=none. With the biblical Book of Tobias being present in the Deuterocanon/Apocrypha of the Bible ...
setting out on his journey with the
Archangel Raphael
Raphael (, "God has healed"), ''Rəfāʾēl'', Tiberian: ''Răp̄āʾēl''; lit. 'God has healed'; grc, Ραφαήλ, ''Raphaḗl''; cop, ⲣⲁⲫⲁⲏⲗ, ''Rafaêl''; ar, رافائيل, ''Rāfā’īl'', or , ''Isrāfīl''; am, ሩፋ ...
, carrying the fish with which he was to heal his father's blindness, was probably painted as a private devotional picture. It is an early work which has formerly been attributed to Pollaiuolo and other artists. Covi thinks that it was probably painted with assistance from Ghirlandaio. It is now in London at the National Gallery.
The ''
Baptism of Christ
The baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist is a major event in the life of Jesus which is described in the three synoptic Gospels of the New Testament (Matthew, Mark and Luke). It is considered to have taken place at Al-Maghtas (also called Beth ...
'', now in the
Uffizi Gallery
The Uffizi Gallery (; it, Galleria degli Uffizi, italic=no, ) is a prominent art museum located adjacent to the Piazza della Signoria in the Historic Centre of Florence in the region of Tuscany, Italy. One of the most important Italian museums ...
at Florence, was painted in 1474–75. In this work Verrocchio was assisted by
Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 14522 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, Drawing, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially res ...
, then a youth and a member of his workshop, who painted the angel on the left and the part of the background above. According to
Giorgio Vasari
Giorgio Vasari (, also , ; 30 July 1511 – 27 June 1574) was an Italian Renaissance Master, who worked as a painter, architect, engineer, writer, and historian, who is best known for his work '' The Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculp ...
, Andrea resolved never to touch the brush again because Leonardo, his pupil, had far surpassed him, but later critics consider this story apocryphal.
The ''Madonna enthroned with John the Baptist and St Donato'' is in the
Pistoia Cathedral
Pistoia Cathedral, or Cathedral of Saint Zeno ( it, Duomo di Pistoia or ''Cattedrale di San Zeno'') is the main religious building of Pistoia, Tuscany, central Italy, located in the ''Piazza del Duomo'' in the centre of the city. It is the seat o ...
. It had been left unfinished and was completed by
Lorenzo di Credi
Lorenzo di Credi (1456/59 – January 12, 1537) was an Italian Renaissance painter and sculptor best known for his paintings of religious subjects. He is most famous for having worked in the studio of Andrea del Verrocchio at the same time ...
when Verrocchio was in Venice near the end of his life.
Sculpture
![Christ with St](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b2/Christ_with_St._Thomas_the_Apostle_of_India.jpg)
Around 1465 Verrocchio is believed to have worked on the lavabo of the
Old Sacristy in
San Lorenzo, Florence
The Basilica di San Lorenzo (Basilica of St. Lawrence) is one of the largest churches of Florence, Italy, situated at the centre of the main market district of the city, and it is the burial place of all the principal members of the Medici famil ...
.
Between 1465 and 1467 he executed the funerary monument to
Cosimo de' Medici for the
crypt under the altar of the same church, and in 1472 he completed the monument to Piero and Giovanni de' Medici in the Old Sacristy.
In 1467 the Tribunale della Mercanzia, the judicial organ of the Guilds in Florence, commissioned from Verrocchio a bronze group portraying ''
Christ and St. Thomas'' for the central niche of the east facade of
Orsanmichele
Orsanmichele (; "Kitchen Garden of St. Michael", from the Tuscan contraction of the Italian word ''orto'') is a church in the Italian city of Florence. The building was constructed on the site of the kitchen garden of the monastery of San Mich ...
, which the Tribunale had recently purchased, to replace a statue of
St. Louis of Toulouse, which had been removed. He therefore had the problem of placing two statues (more than life size) in a niche originally intended for one. As Covi says, the problem was resolved "in a most felicitous manner". The work was placed in position in 1483 and "has been acclaimed since the day of its unveiling and almost without exception recognised as a masterpiece."
In 1468 Verrocchio made a bronze candlestick (1.57metres high), now in the
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
The Rijksmuseum () is the national museum of the Netherlands dedicated to Dutch arts and history and is located in Amsterdam. The museum is located at the Museum Square in the borough of Amsterdam South, close to the Van Gogh Museum, the Ste ...
, for the Signoria of Florence.
Also in 1468 he contracted to make a golden ball (''palla'') to be placed on top of the lantern of
Brunelleschi
Filippo Brunelleschi ( , , also known as Pippo; 1377 – 15 April 1446), considered to be a founding father of Renaissance architecture, was an Italian architect, designer, and sculptor, and is now recognized to be the first modern engineer, p ...
's cupola on
the Duomo in Florence. The ball was ingeniously made of sheets of copper soldered together and hammered into shape and then gilded. It was completed by the spring of 1471. (The cross on top was made by other hands). The ball was struck by lightning and fell on 27January 1601 but was reconstructed in 1602.
In the early 1470s he made a voyage to
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
, while in 1474 he executed the
Forteguerri monument for the Cathedral of
Pistoia, which he left unfinished.
A
bronze statue of ''David'' was commissioned by Piero de'Medici. On grounds of style and technique it was dated by Butterfield to the mid-1460s; he considered it a masterpiece of Verrocchio's early career. It was purchased by the
Signoria of Florence
The Signoria of Florence (Italian: "lordship") was the government of the medieval and Renaissance Republic of Florence, between 1250 and 1532. Its nine members, the ''Priori'', were chosen from the ranks of the guilds of the city: six of them f ...
from Piero's heirs Lorenzo and Giuliano de' Medici in 1476 and is now at the
Bargello
The Bargello, also known as the Palazzo del Bargello, Museo Nazionale del Bargello, or Palazzo del Popolo (Palace of the People), was a former barracks and prison, now an art museum, in Florence, Italy.
Terminology
The word ''bargello'' appears ...
in Florence. Verrocchio's David is a young lad, modestly clad, contrasting with
Donatello
Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi ( – 13 December 1466), better known as Donatello ( ), was a Florentine sculptor of the Renaissance period. Born in Florence, he studied classical sculpture and used this to develop a complete Renaissance s ...
's provocative ''
David
David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...
''. For this figure, the Master is purported to have used the young Leonardo, a newcomer to his workshop, as his model.
At a date unknown (suggestions range from 1465 to 1480: Pope-Hennessy said about 1470) he finished in bronze a
Putto
A putto (; plural putti ) is a figure in a work of art depicted as a chubby male child, usually naked and sometimes winged. Originally limited to profane passions in symbolism,Dempsey, Charles. ''Inventing the Renaissance Putto''. University of ...
(winged boy) with Dolphin, originally intended for a fountain in the
Medici villa of Careggi
The Villa Medici at Careggi is a patrician villa in the hills near Florence, Tuscany, central Italy.
History
The villa was among the first of a number of Medici villas, notable as the site of the Platonic Academy founded by Cosimo de' Medici, ...
and later brought to Florence for a fountain in the
Palazzo della Signoria
A palace is a grand residence, especially a royal residence, or the home of a head of state or some other high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word is derived from the Latin name palātium, for Palatine Hill in Rome which ...
by the
Grand Duke Cosimo de' Medici. It was replaced with a copy by Bruno Bearzi and since 1959 has been kept in a room in the
Palazzo Vecchio.
The marble bust of a lady with a bunch of flowers (''
Dama col mazzolino'') in the
Bargello
The Bargello, also known as the Palazzo del Bargello, Museo Nazionale del Bargello, or Palazzo del Popolo (Palace of the People), was a former barracks and prison, now an art museum, in Florence, Italy.
Terminology
The word ''bargello'' appears ...
at Florence is probably from the later 1470s. The identity of the lady is unknown.
The relief for the funerary monument of Francesca Tornabuoni for
Santa Maria sopra Minerva in Rome is also now in the Bargello at Florence. Verrochio had been at work in the
Funerary Monument to Cardinal Niccolo Forteguerri, Pistoia, when he departed for Venice in 1483.
Statue of Bartolomeo Colleoni
![Bartolomeo Colleoni by Andrea del Verrocchio](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b1/Bartolomeo_Colleoni_by_Andrea_del_Verrocchio.jpg)
In 1475 the
Condottiero Colleoni
The House of Colleoni was a Guelf-allied noble family in medieval Bergamo. Their Ghibelline opponents were the Suardi family, of which the Colleoni themselves were a branch.
History
When the Visconti of Milan seized Bergamo, they exiled the ...
, a former Captain General of the
Republic of Venice
The Republic of Venice ( vec, Repùblega de Venèsia) or Venetian Republic ( vec, Repùblega Vèneta, links=no), traditionally known as La Serenissima ( en, Most Serene Republic of Venice, italics=yes; vec, Serenìsima Repùblega de Venèsia, ...
, died and by his will left a substantial part of his estate to the Republic on condition that a statue of himself should be commissioned and set up in the
Piazza San Marco
Piazza San Marco (; vec, Piasa San Marco), often known in English as St Mark's Square, is the principal public square of Venice, Italy, where it is generally known just as ''la Piazza'' ("the Square"). All other urban spaces in the city (exc ...
. In 1479 the Republic announced that it would accept the legacy, but that (as statues were not permitted in the Piazza) the statue would be placed in the open space in front of the ''Scuola'' San Marco. A competition was arranged to enable a sculptor to be selected. Three sculptors competed for the contract, Verrocchio from Florence,
Alessandro Leopardi
Alessandro Leopardi (sometimes called Leopardo) (1466 – 1512) was a Venetian sculptor, bronze founder and architect.
Biography
Leopardi was born and died in Venice. He is first heard of in 1482 and is said to have worked at the mint. He wa ...
from Venice and
Bartolomeo Vellano from
Padua
Padua ( ; it, Padova ; vec, Pàdova) is a city and ''comune'' in Veneto, northern Italy. Padua is on the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice. It is the capital of the province of Padua. It is also the economic and communications hub of the ...
. Verrocchio made a model of his proposed sculpture using wood and black leather, while the others made models of wax and clay. The three models were exhibited in Venice in 1483 and the contract was awarded to Verrocchio. He then opened a workshop in Venice and made the final clay model which was ready to be cast in bronze, but he died in 1488, before this was done. He had asked that his pupil Lorenzo di Credi, who was then in charge of his workshop in Florence, should be entrusted with the finishing of the statue, but after the considerable delay the Venetian state commissioned
Alessandro Leopardi
Alessandro Leopardi (sometimes called Leopardo) (1466 – 1512) was a Venetian sculptor, bronze founder and architect.
Biography
Leopardi was born and died in Venice. He is first heard of in 1482 and is said to have worked at the mint. He wa ...
to do this. The statue was eventually erected on a pedestal made by Leopardi in the
Santi Giovanni e Paolo in Venice, where it stands today.
Leopardi cast the bronze very successfully and the statue is universally admired, but Pope-Hennessy suggests that, if Verrocchio had been able to do this himself, he would have finished the head and other parts more smoothly and made it even better than it is. Although it was not placed where Colleoni had intended, Passavent emphasised how fine it looks in its actual position, writing that "the magnificent sense of movement in this figure is shown to superb advantage in its present setting" and that, as sculpture, "it far surpasses anything the century had yet aspired to or thought possible". He points out that both man and horse are equally fine and together are inseparable parts of the sculpture.
Verrocchio is unlikely to have ever seen Colleoni and the statue is not a portrait of the man but of the idea of a strong and ruthless military commander "bursting with titanic power and energy". This is in contrast to Donatello's statue at Padua of the condottiere known as
Gattamelata with its "air of calm command" and all Verrocchio's effort "has been devoted to the rendering of movement and of a sense of strain and energy".
[ Peter & Linda Murray: ''Penguin Dictionary of Art & Artists'' under 'Verrocchio']
References
Further reading
* Brown, David Alan (2003). ''Virtue and Beauty: Leonardo's Ginevra de' Benci and Renaissance Portraits of Women''. Princeton University Press.
*
*
* Freiberg, Jack (2010): "Verrocchio's Putto and Medici Love". David A. Levine, & Jack Freiberg (Eds.), Medieval Renaissance Baroque: A Cat's Cradle for Marilyn Aronberg Lavin. New York: Italica Press, pp. 83–100.
*
*
Pope-Hennessy, John: ''Italian Renaissance Sculpture'' (London 1958)
*
Syson, Luke & Jill Dunkerton: "Andrea del Verrocchio's first surviving panel and other early works" in ''
Burlington Magazine
''The Burlington Magazine'' is a monthly publication that covers the fine and decorative arts of all periods. Established in 1903, it is the longest running art journal in the English language. It has been published by a charitable organisation s ...
'' Vol.CLIII No.1299 (June 2011) pp. 368–378.
*
External links
World Gallery of ArtThis has a biography and excellent reproductions of some of his works
*
''Encyclopædia Britannica''Good biography of Andrea del Verrocchio
Andrea Verrocchio: 16th-century biography by VasariA reprint of Vasari's biography (not entirely reliable)
''Leonardo da Vinci: anatomical drawings from the Royal Library, Windsor Castle'' exhibition catalog fully online as PDF from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, which contains material on Andrea del Verrocchio (see index)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Verrocchio, Andrea Del
1430s births
1488 deaths
Painters from Florence
15th-century Italian painters
Italian male painters
Italian Renaissance painters
Renaissance sculptors
Year of birth uncertain
15th-century Italian sculptors
Italian male sculptors