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Andrea del Verrocchio, David, Florence, Museo
Nazionale del Bargello, 1473-5, bronze, height, 125 cm.
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Andrea was the son of Michele di Francesco di Cione, a tax
official. The artist’s first apprenticeship was with the goldsmith Andrea Dei
from 1453 to 1456. In 1457, he became affiliated with Francesco di Luca
Verrocchio, thus inheriting his patronymic. Verrocchio’s birth date is the
subject of discussion, but he was probably born in 1435 and lived until the age
of 53- he was only 17 years older than Leonardo. An unfortunate accident had
determined the course of his life. As a result of a tragic stone-throwing game
with his Florentine compatriots, Verrocchio killed Antonio di Domenico, a
woodworker aged 14. The taxman’s son was Imprisoned and tried for involuntary
manslaughter, but Verrocchio was released soon afterward, the judges being used
to stone-throwing cases, not unusual in in Florence. Verrocchio was
guilt-stricken for the rest of his life, and it’s thought the accidental death
was the reason he didn’t put a stone in the hand of his celebrated David,
thought by some to have been modelled by the young Leonardo. To add to
Verrocchio’s troubles, his father died shortly afterwards, leaving a widow,
Nannina, 6 children, and a multitude of debts. Andrea inherited the task of
supporting his family, but on the positive side, his financial misfortune drove
his artistic career. When Leonardo started in Verrocchio’s workshop- after
Abbacus School, reckoning school- Andrea was still supporting his family.
What
made Verrocchio’s name was a commission for the tombstone of the “father of the
state”, Cosimo de’ Medici. Most of Verrocchio’s identified works were completed
in the last 25 years of his life, and more mainly connected to Medici
commissions- his career thus owed a great deal to the Medici. Verrocchio’s
workshop would also have been under the protection of the Medici. As Serge
Bramley says, we shouldn’t picture Verrocchio’s workshop in the Via de Agnolo
as a 19th century painter’s studio. It was a bottega, and hence more likely
resembled a shop like a shoemaker’s, a butchers or tailor’s. It was probably a
set of ground floor premises opening onto the street, where children played and
animals wandered. It would have been
able to handle all commissions since Verrocchio advertised himself as a
painter, decorator, sculptor and goldsmith.[1] Vasari’s
reading of Verrocchio is incorrect. Bramley sees him as a “pioneer” whose
dogged determination fascinated his pupils.
The accidents of history have not helped either since only a few works
by Verrocchio have survived; thirty have been listed of which are uncertain.[2]
Leonardo would have entered Verrocchio’s studio in 1466 or 1467 as apprentice
or discepolo, where he would have learnt how to make paintbrushes, prepare
glazes, stretch canvas onto panels, recognize and prepare pigments, freshly
ground and mixed every day. Once he had mastered this basic training, Leonardo
would have progressed to taking an active hand in the “firm’s” activities,
especially when he became a journeyman (garzone). During this stage the master
might entrust him with decoration or backgrounds; he might have let him handle
architectural sections, plants, or garments and background figures, depending
on the garzone’s skill or aptitude for the task. As a trained goldsmith
Verrocchio would have drawn in pen and ink, though many of his pupils like
Lorenzo di Credi and Leonardo used silverpoint in their figure studies.
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| Lorenzo di Credi, Bust of a Boy Wearing a Cap, c. 1480, Metalpoint with white highlights on pale brownish pink prepared paper, 245 x 188 mm, Musée du Louvre, Paris |
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Maso Finguerra, Ragozzo intent al disegno, (Boy
busy drawing) Florence, Uffizi, pen and ink.
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Leonardo da Vinci, Profile of Man in Armour,
London, British Museum, 1475-80, silverpoint, 211.000 mm.
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Bramly is good, however thank the stars for Giorgio Vasari.
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