Verrocchio Exhibition at Palazzo Strozzi Challenges Leonardo's Artistic Lineage
On March 9, 2019, Palazzo Strozzi in Florence unveiled a significant exhibition titled 'The Master of Leonardo,' curated by Francesco Caglioti and Andrea De Marchi, focusing on Andrea del Verrocchio. However, art critic Massimo Giontella contends that this assertion falls short, particularly when analyzing Leonardo's 'Ginevra Benci' (c. 1475), which shows the influence of Jan van Eyck. He argues that Antonio del Pollaiolo was Leonardo's actual mentor, referencing Antonello da Messina's exposure to Flemish art. Giontella challenges the exhibition's interpretations of Verrocchio's pieces and posits that Leonardo probably created a preparatory sketch for the Oratorio della Madonna di Piazza, ultimately asserting that Pollaiolo, not Verrocchio, was Leonardo's true master.
Key facts
- Exhibition 'Verrocchio: Il Maestro di Leonardo' opened March 9, 2019 at Palazzo Strozzi, Florence, curated by Francesco Caglioti and Andrea De Marchi.
- Massimo Giontella argues Leonardo's true painting master was Antonio del Pollaiolo, not Verrocchio.
- Giontella cites Leonardo's 'Ginevra Benci' (c. 1475, National Gallery of Art, Washington) as showing van Eyck's influence.
- Antonello da Messina is documented painting the Pala di San Cassiano in August 1475, derived from the Pala Montefeltro.
- Giontella attributes the Pala Montefeltro (1474) to Antonio del Pollaiolo, not Piero della Francesca.
- A 1485 document from Pistoia's institutions questions whether the Madonna di Piazza altarpiece matches the contract and sketch, implying Verrocchio did not make the drawing.
- Leonardo wrote in September 1478, 'I began the two Virgin Marys,' one possibly the Madonna di Piazza.
- The Uffizi Annunciation depicts Otranto after the 1480 Turkish invasion, datable to early 1481, and Giontella attributes it mainly to Antonio del Pollaiolo.
- Giontella claims Verrocchio abandoned painting after seeing Leonardo's angel in the Baptism of Christ, per Vasari, but the exhibition dismisses this.
Entities
Artists
- Andrea del Verrocchio
- Leonardo da Vinci
- Francesco Caglioti
- Andrea De Marchi
- Massimo Giontella
- Antonio del Pollaiolo
- Jan van Eyck
- Antonello da Messina
- Piero della Francesca
- Giorgio Vasari
- Michelangelo Salvi
- Lorenzo di Credi
- Piero del Pollaiolo
- Marsilio Ficino
- Antonio Ivani
- Lorenzo de' Medici
- Federico di Montefeltro
- Luciano Laurana
- Ambrogio Barocci
- Fra Carnevale
- Francesco Laurana
- Domenico Ghirlandaio
- Sultan Mehmed II
- Pope Sixtus IV
Institutions
- Palazzo Strozzi
- National Gallery of Art, Washington
- Uffizi Gallery
- Louvre Museum
- Pistoia Cathedral
- Oratorio della Madonna di Piazza
- Castello Sforzesco
- Bargello Museum
- Accademia di Scienze e Lettere La Colombaria
- Artribune
- Gabinetto Disegni e Stampe degli Uffizi
- University of Florence
Locations
- Florence
- Italy
- Pistoia
- Urbino
- Otranto
- Puglia
- Recanati
- Marche
- Rusciano
- Paris
- France
- Washington, D.C.
- United States
- Arezzo