First Italian Monographic Exhibition on Verrocchio Opens in Florence

Florence hosts the first Italian monographic exhibition dedicated to Andrea del Verrocchio (1435–1488), the Renaissance master of Leonardo da Vinci, Perugino, Ghirlandaio, Signorelli, and Botticini. Titled 'Verrocchio, il maestro di Leonardo', the show runs at Palazzo Strozzi and the Museo del Bargello, featuring 120 works loaned from Europe and the United States. Fourteen restorations were carried out for the occasion, including the famous 'Putto con delfino'. At the Bargello, a separate section displays a selection of wooden religious sculptures. The exhibition spans Verrocchio's output in wood, stone, bronze, stucco, and panel painting, contextualized alongside works by his illustrious pupils. Curatorial focus is on sculptures from the 1460s, his youthful phase, revealing him as the last follower of Donatello and his continuator in more graceful forms. The exhibition highlights Verrocchio's role as a complete artist, not a failed Leonardo, who sought perfection and left no work unfinished until it achieved ineffable beauty. His painting, arrived at relatively late in the 1470s, reflects neoplatonic ideals under Marsilio Ficino's influence, with serene, modest expressions and golden-ratio proportions. The show also underscores the Medici patronage under Lorenzo the Magnificent, whose pacification policies allowed unprecedented artistic development in Florence until 1559.