Legacy and workshop
Andrea del Verrocchio has long been celebrated as one of the greatest sculptors of the Italian Renaissance. However, as a painter, Verrocchio has become chiefly celebrated as a teacher.
His pupils included Leonardo da Vinci, as well as other great artists of the later 15th-century: Pietro Perugino, Lorenzo di Credi and, in all probability, Sandro Botticelli.
As a result, almost all of the pictures recognised as coming from Verrocchio’s workshop have been attributed to one or other of his famous pupils and assistants (sometimes thought to be working in concert). What then did Verrocchio paint himself? Why did all these talented young painters want to learn from him?
The cleaning and restoration of two pictures at the National Gallery has helped answer these difficult questions.