Andrea del Verrocchio

Andrea del Verrocchio , 1435-88, Florentine sculptor and painter, whose real name was Andrea di Michele di Francesco di Cioni. He was a leading figure in the early Renaissance, and his workshop was a center for the training of young artists in Florence. A virtuoso metalworker, Verrocchio was primarily concerned with the spirited rendering of movement and the elaboration of detail. Many of his paintings are lost. Of the remaining panels, his hand is evident in the Baptism of Christ (Uffizi), assisted by Leonardo da Vinci. In the Pistoia altarpiece he was aided by Lorenzo di Credi. Other attributions are Tobias and the Angel (National Gall., London), two paintings of the Madonna and Child (National Gall., London; Berlin), and a Crucifixion with Saints (Argiano). Most of Verrocchio's achievements in sculpture have survived. His earlier work includes the bold group Incredulity of St. Thomas (Orsanmichele). In 1472 he designed the tombs of Piero and Giovanni de' Medici (San Lorenzo). In the same period he created the graceful Boy with a Dolphin and a lithe portrayal of David (Bargello). He went to Venice (c.1480) to work on the equestrian monument of the condottiere Bartolomeo Colleoni. Verrocchio designed a massive figure of the commander, which was not cast until after the sculptor's death. Examples of his bronze work are in the Metropolitan Museum, and there are two portrait busts of Giuliano and Lorenzo de' Medici in the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

Bibliography: See his complete sculptures, paintings, and drawings, ed. by G. Passavant (1969).

Verrocchio, Andrea del ( Andrea di Cioni) (c.1435–88). Florentine sculptor, painter, and metalworker, one of the outstanding Italian artists of his period. His nickname Verrocchio (‘true eye’) was given to him not because of his sharpness of vision, but evidently because early in his career he worked for a family of that name. He is said to have studied in Donatello's workshop, but his main training was as a goldsmith, and delicacy of craftsmanship is one of the salient features of his work. Only one work in precious metal by him survives, however—a silver relief of the Beheading of John the Baptist (1477–80), done for the Baptistery in Florence and now in the Cathedral Museum. His major activity was as a sculptor, principally in bronze, but also in marble and terracotta, and his two most famous works rank with the statues of Donatello that inspired them among the great masterpieces of Italian sculpture, whilst also showing the great differences in approach between the two artists. Verrocchio's David (c.1475, Bargello, Florence) is more refined, but less broodingly intense than Donatello's David in the same museum, and Verrocchio's masterpiece, the equestrian statue of the condottiere Bartolommeo Colleoni in Venice (begun 1481, cast after Verrocchio's death, and unveiled in 1496), has a magnificent sense of movement and swagger, but less of the heroic dignity of Donatello's Gattamelata statue in Padua. It is much harder to assess Verrocchio's stature as a painter, as very few works exist that can be convincingly assigned to his own hand. Nevertheless numerous paintings came from his workshop, which was the largest in Florence at this time, and he trained distinguished painters, most notably Leonardo da Vinci, who assisted his master with the Baptism of Christ (c.1470, Uffizi, Florence), one of the few paintings indisputably by Verrocchio. Leonardo took his superb craftsmanship from Verrocchio and also shared his fascination with two contrasting types—the tough old warrior (as in the Colleoni monument) and the epicene youth (as in the David). Leonardo's enormous fame has tended to cast a shadow over Verrocchio, but nevertheless he is generally regarded as the greatest Italian sculptor between Donatello and Michelangelo.

Botticini, Francesco ( Francesco di Giovanni) (b Florence, c.1446; d Florence, 16 Jan. 1498). Florentine painter. His style is based almost entirely on elements drawn from his more illustrious contemporaries— Sandro Botticelli, Domenico Ghirlandaio, Filippino Lippi, Andrea del Verrocchio. He produced one remarkable work, however, the Assumption of the Virgin (c.1474, NG, London), which has the distinction of being the only picture from the quattrocento known to have been painted to illustrate a heresy. The donor, Matteo Palmieri, who held various government positions in Florence, believed that human souls are the angels who stayed neutral when Satan rebelled against God.