Everybody knows the genius Leonardo da Vinci. Do you know who lapidated his tremendous raw talent? His master was Andrea del Verrocchio, one of the most important figures of the Renaissance.
And in the year when Florence is celebrating the 500th anniversary of Leonardo’s death, Palazzo Strozzi opens its doors to honor Verrocchio, from March 9 to July 14. The exhibition is huge: over 120 paintings, sculptures and drawings from the world’s leading museums and collections, including the Metropolitan Museum of New York, the Musée du Louvre in Paris, the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and the Gallerie degli Uffizi in Florence.
Curated by two leading experts in the art of the XV century, Francesco Caglioti and Andrea De Marchi, the exhibition has a special section at the Museo Nazionale del Bargello, bringing together for the first time Verrocchio’s celebrated masterpieces and the capital works by the best-known artists associated with his workshop – yes, he was not only Leonardo’s master, but also taught and inspired Domenico Ghirlandaio, Sandro Botticelli and Pietro Perugino.
The exhibition also reconstructs Leonardo’s early artistic career and his interaction with Verrocchio, thanks to outstanding loans and unprecedented juxtapositions.
It is the first retrospective ever devoted to Verrocchio, an opportunity to know better (or for the first time) the work and the importance of this great artist who helped to draw with his talent the portrait of the Renaissance.