Art and beauty lovers couldn’t miss this appointment (Palazzo Strozzi and Museo Nazionale del Bargello, Florence, 09 March – 14 July, 2019) where to discover the real essence of Renaissance through the works and the influence of “Leonardo’s Master”: Verrocchio !
After training periods as goldsmith and sculptor at Donatello and Desiderio da Settignano workshops, Andrea del Verrocchio afterwords had success as innovative and revolutionary painter, becoming the reference for modern painting in that period. Originally he took inspiration from the typical landscapes of flemish painters, but he had the capability to add to his works the special brightness, tensions and emotions that identified the lively period of Medici’s Florence, engaging in his workshop extraordinary talents as the young Leonardo da Vinci together with Perugino, Ghirlandaio, Fra Filippo Lippi, Pintoricchio, Antonio del Pollaiolo, Mino da Fiesole, Francesco di Simone Ferrucci, Lorenzo di Credi.
Among the over 100 masterpieces in this showcase, as works of Lorenzo di Credi, brotherly friend of Leonardo, we have admired the famous Madonna Dreyfus (called also Madonna della melagrana, coming from Washington, National Gallery of Art, Samuel H. Kress Collection) and the Madonna della Giuggiola (Torino, Musei Reali Torino, Galleria Sabauda) in which some shapes and elements are so similar that for long time these works have been considered Leonardo’s ones!
Another masterpiece, commissioned to Verrocchio in occasion of Donato de’Medici’s will, Pistoia’s Bishop died in 1474, was subsequently completed by the apprentice Lorenzo di Credi: the Madonna col Bambino tra San Giovanni Battista e San Donato d’Arezzo (also called Madonna di Piazza), usually located inside San Zeno Cathedral, in Pistoia.
Along the showcase path, through the sculptures, reliefs, preparatory drawings, paintings, we have had the chance to live again the intense career of a real “Master of the Masters” who embodies the spirit of a whole age, the Italian Renaissance, with the power of its universal values.
Surprise: if you partake in one of our tours, or have attended art events or shows you have particularly appreciated, you can share your experience with us on our social channels (Come and See Italy, on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube) or write a Review … a special surprise is waiting for you!
