Andrea del Verrocchio

Andrea del Verrocchio
The Baptism of Christ. 177 x 151 cm. Assisted by Leonardo da Vinci. Uffizi Gallery, Florence
Born	Andrea di Michele di Francesco de' Cioni c. 1435 Florence, Italy
Died	1488 Venice, Italy
Nationality	Italian
Known for	Painting, Sculpture
Notable work	Tobias and the Angel (painting) The Baptism of Christ (painting) – with Leonardo da Vinci Christ and St. Thomas (bronze sculpture) Putto with a Dolfin (bronze sculpture) David (bronze sculpture) Equestrian statue of Bartolomeo Colleoni (bronze sculpture – cast by Alessandro Leopardi)
Movement	Italian Renaissance

Andrea del Verrocchio (Italian pronunciation: [anˈdrɛːa del verˈrɔkkjo]; c. 1435 – 1488), born Andrea di Michele di Francesco de' Cioni, was an Italian painter, sculptor, and goldsmith who was master of an important workshop in Florence. He became known by his nickname Verrocchio, from vero occhio, which in Italian means "true eye", a tribute given to him for his artistic achievement. 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, Pietro Perugino and Lorenzo di Credi. His greatest importance was as a sculptor and his last work, the Equestrian statue of Bartolomeo Colleoni in Venice, is generally accepted as a masterpiece.

Verrocchio was born in Florence in or about 1435. His father was Michele di Francesco Cioni, who worked as a tile and brick maker and, 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, but there is no evidence of this and John Pope-Hennessy 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. 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. Several great artists passed through his workshop as apprentices. As well as Leonardo da Vinci and Lorenzo di Credi these included Domenico Ghirlandaio, Francesco Botticini, and Pietro Perugino. Their early works can be hard to distinguish from works by Verrocchio. At the end of his life he opened a new workshop in Venice where he was working on the statue of Bartolomeo Colleoni, leaving the Florentine workshop in charge of Lorenzo di Credi. He died in Venice in 1488.