Leonardo da Vinci. Renaissance Titan. Painter, sculptor, architect. And also a naturalist, mechanic, engineer, mathematician. He made many discoveries, foresaw the paths of intellectual search for future generations. His name is shrouded in an aura of mystery. An innovative artist, Leonardo set and solved tasks that were considered impossible. There was not a single scientific problem that he would not pay attention to. Da Vinci left over 7,000 manuscripts. These records still excite the imagination of inquisitive researchers. For "the one who does not aspire to the stars does not turn around."
A series: History per hour
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The following excerpt from the book Leonardo da Vinci (Vera Kalmykova, 2015) provided by our book partner - the company LitRes.
In the workshop of Verrocchio. Florence
In Florence, through the efforts of his father, Leonardo got into the studio of Verrocchio: the artist and sculptor Andrea Verrocchio enjoyed the exceptional location of Lorenzo de Medici, or Lorenzo il Magnifico (the Magnificent), as he was called in the city. According to Vasari, Piero selected some of his son's best drawings and took them to Verrocchio's court, and he was amazed at the exceptional success of a teenager whom no one had ever taught anything. Verrocchio agreed to cut the talent of the young man from Vinci. Leonardo spent twelve years in his studio. The young man not only learned the intricacies of his future main craft, but also gained the broadest outlook, because the teacher was, without a doubt, one of the most interesting people and outstanding artists of his time.
Andrea del Choni, who later took the nickname Verrocchio, was then a little over thirty years old. The unchanging stern expression of his puffy face with thin lips and square lower jaw testified to a sense of responsibility, severity and restraint in the manifestation of emotions. As a child, he, along with fellow peers, took part in cruel fun: they stoned a forty-year-old wool spinner, who died as a result. Juvenile delinquents were convicted and sent to prison. But not so much the conclusion as the tragic death of an innocent man left its mark on the rest of Verrocchio's life. He devoted all subsequent years to the atonement of a terrible sin, considered himself obliged to constantly work and take care of the poor. He worked, as they said, with the strength and stubbornness of a bull. Leonardo from the first days submitted to the discipline that reigned in the workshop, and learned the traditional ways of mixing paints, casting metal, as well as drawing, coloring and engraving. And even though the young man appeared at Verrocchio's with little intellectual and artistic baggage, he, along with the future famous masters Lorenzo di Credi and Pietro Perugino, soon became the master's favorite student.
In the 1460s-1470s. Verrocchio's workshop was a kind of club: all the promising young people of Florence gathered here. First of all, they discussed, analyzed in detail and criticized, of course, artistic works, but in parallel, philosophical and practical issues, in particular medical works. For example, the work of Marsili Ficin, head of the Platonic Academy in Florence, became the subject of discussion. Fichina translated and commented on Plato's writings. In parallel, there were talks about the assessment of the ancient heritage; here Leonardo was distinguished by uncompromising judgments. It is necessary to appreciate the predecessors and learn from them, he believed, but to accept the art of the past as a model means dooming yourself to the endless reproduction of ready-made forms and not looking for a new one yourself.
It must be said that Leonardo's peers and fellow students were little interested in the theoretical issues of painting, excluding, of course, the doctrine of perspective. The principles of linear perspective were finally developed by Filippo Brunelleschi. But Brunelleschi did not leave a scientific treatise on perspective, as was customary at the time. The scientist and architect Leon Battista Alberti systematized and summarized the knowledge about the volumetric construction of the image, and his work turned out to be one of the greatest achievements of the Renaissance.
Alberti raised the ideas of Brunelleschi to the level of scientific theory and created treatises on painting, sculpture and architecture, which Leonardo was familiar with for sure. Alberti significantly expanded the artist's area of competence, which was already wide during the Renaissance. But if before the artists had a lot be able to, now it turned out that they owed even more know And understand. Alberti believed that in addition to the necessary technical skill, the artist must also have knowledge of geometry and optics - without them it is impossible to build a perspective. He must understand the secrets of the human body, because the movements of the body reflect the movements of the soul. Only by understanding them, one can paint a successful portrait, not just similar, but reflecting the inner life, spiritual structure of the personality. Most of all, Alberti was interested in the relationship between mathematics and art. And here Leonardo's childhood passion for mathematics came in very handy: later he always used it in his paintings, considering it the key to all knowledge.
In the 1460s-1470s. other scientists worked in Florence who influenced the intellectual development of Leonardo. Benedetto del Abbaco was engaged in commerce (we would say now - economics), mechanics and engineering. Paolo del Pozzo Toscanelli, an outstanding mathematician, astronomer and physician, also made some discoveries in the field of geography. Toscanelli believed that the eastern countries could be reached by sailing west across the Atlantic all the time; in 1474, 18 years before Columbus traveled, he sent him a map and a letter urging him to make such an attempt. Having become acquainted with their ideas, Leonardo put forward, probably the very first of his many engineering projects - to dig a shipping channel connected to the Arno River from Pisa to Florence. He also made drawings of flour mills, lifting and other mechanisms that were driven by the power of water.
Leonardo was indifferent only to politics. Florence was considered a republic, but in fact it was ruled by the de Medici family. The main instrument of power was the Medici bank, through which all the wealth of the city flowed, based on the production of manufactory, silk and wool trade, jewelry and luxury goods. Naturally, the prosperity of each individual citizen also depended on the location of the Medici or one of their close associates.
In Florence, Leonardo developed the habit of carrying small albums with him everywhere for recording and sketching. As Vasari testifies, he wandered the streets in search of beautiful or ugly faces, and ugliness, in his opinion, should not be avoided - it is just the flip side of beauty. He was so happy when he saw some remarkable face that he began to pursue the person who attracted his attention, and he could do this all day, trying to get a clear idea of \u200b\u200bit, and when he returned home, he would draw the head as well as if a person this one sat in front of him. Leonardo made an endless number of sketches. Comprehensively studying the facial expression and posture of a person, he persistently tried to portray various spiritual impulses, while leaving his own feelings aside, in order to convey the internal state of the model as objectively as possible. “All our knowledge is based on perception,” he argued, wishing that his own perception was as complete and voluminous as possible.
Leonardo was tall, handsome, proportionally built and unusually strong physically (even if modern doctors are right, believing that he suffered from a congenital disease, he managed to get rid of its consequences, gained remarkable physical strength and easily bent iron rings and horseshoes). He invariably attracted attention, although he was not without arrogance. On the other hand, he knew how to convince any interlocutor of his innocence and always dressed elegantly (his cloak was too short in terms of the fashion of that time, but allowed passers-by to see the beauty of the legs and the nobility of the owner’s steps). From an early age, Leonardo acquired the habit of comprehending his every desire, mental movement or deed. So, analyzing why he likes to dress fashionably and look after himself so much, he wrote: “Whoever wants to see how the soul lives in the body, he watches how the body uses its shelter every day. If this refuge is dirty and neglected, then the soul that is in the body is also dirty and neglected. Most of all he valued freedom. No wonder he bought their song captives from bird dealers in order to immediately release them. Already in his youth, Leonardo began to think about whether to eat meat. He did not want to make his body, as he himself put it, a “grave” for earthly creatures like himself.
The father, although he was not particularly generous and demanded that his son take orders and earn money himself to satisfy his whims, nevertheless taught the artist both to luxury, and to impunity, and to contempt for everyone who is not smart enough or interesting. Leonardo did not care how it was customary to act in certain cases: he always put his own work at the forefront. One day a priest came to his workshop. It was Holy Saturday, and the holy father sprinkled some of Leonardo's paintings with holy water. In retaliation, the artist poured a whole bucket of water on him.
Today we can assume that the famous bronze "David" belongs to the first works of Verrocchio. There are no documents about the creation of "David". Most researchers place the performance of "David" between 1473-1476. But a more likely execution date is around 1462.
Verrocchio could not help but know Donatello's "David", voluntarily or unwittingly, he had to enter into competition with his predecessor. The sculptor almost repeated the pose of "David" by Donatello, who also put his left leg back, akimbo with his left hand and clutching a sword in his right. And yet, the statue of Verrocchio makes a completely different impression: celebrating a victory, his hero, as it were, poses in front of enthusiastic spectators, admiring himself. This frankness is the main thing that distinguishes him from the introspective, reflective David Donatello. Today we can assume that the famous bronze "David" belongs to the first works of Verrocchio. There are no documents about the creation of "David". Most researchers place the performance of "David" between 1473-1476. But a more likely execution date is around 1462.
S. O. Androsov, a connoisseur of Italian art, described the statue in great detail:
“Verrocchio portrayed David as a lively and perky young man, dressed in a tunic and greaves. He stands over the huge head of Goliath, leaning on his right foot and pushing back his left. In his right hand he holds a short sword, the left is placed on his belt. In the whole figure and face of David, the triumph of the young winner is felt.
Verrocchio could not help but know the "David" of Donatello, willingly or unwillingly, he had to enter into competition with his predecessor. The sculptor almost repeated the pose of "David" by Donatello, who also put his left leg back, akimbo with his left hand and clutching a sword in his right. And yet, the statue of Verrocchio makes a completely different impression: celebrating a victory, his hero, as it were, poses in front of enthusiastic spectators, admiring himself. This frankness is the main thing that distinguishes him from the introspective, reflective David Donatello. Our master achieves this impression quite simply: his hero looks straight ahead, half smiling towards the viewer. The face is as if illuminated from within with joy. The whole figure radiates self-satisfaction and confidence.
Verrocchio shows the body of "David" through the clothes. Knowing anatomy much better than his predecessor, he approaches the image of the figure with the concreteness of a scientist, based on a deep study of nature. However, one should not assume that Verrocchio depicted here a specific young man who posed for him. The image he created is still ideal, and fully reflects the idea of beauty that developed in the second half of the 15th century. Ster achieves this impression quite simply: his hero looks straight ahead, half smiling towards the viewer. The face is as if illuminated from within with joy. The whole figure radiates self-satisfaction and confidence.
We can go around the statue of Verrocchio from all sides, and from all points of view the same character will be felt - the staging of the figure and facial expressions are so expressive. Even if you look at the sculpture from the back, you can feel David's self-confidence - through the general movement of the young man, through the gesture of his left hand. Such a statue is really designed for a round trip, and this calculation is implemented with great skill. I would like to see her placed on a rather high pedestal in the middle of a small courtyard or garden, so that “David” could rise above those who contemplate him.
Verrocchio shows the body of "David" through the clothes. Knowing anatomy much better than his predecessor, he approaches the image of the figure with the concreteness of a scientist, based on a deep study of nature. However, one should not assume that Verrocchio depicted here a specific young man who posed for him. The image he created is still ideal, and fully reflects the idea of beauty that developed in the second half of the 15th century.
» Andrea Verrocchio
Creativity and biography - Andrea Verrocchio
Verrocchio Andrea. Real name - Andrea di Michele di Francesco Choni, an outstanding Italian sculptor. Born in Florence. He was a famous sculptor, painter, draftsman, architect, jeweler, and musician. In each genre, he established himself as a master innovator, not repeating what his predecessors did.
Among the first works that brought fame to the young Andrea Verrocchio, who began as a jeweler, were the terracotta statuette "The Sleeping Youth" and the famous bronze figure "David", made for the Medici family (c. 1462-65. Florence. National Museum). The innovation of Verrocchio manifested itself in this remarkable work not only by the unexpected interpretation of the image of the biblical hero - full of movement, enthusiasm, life. Bronze sculpture frankly expresses new concepts of beauty and new ideals that took shape in the third quarter of the 15th century. And the tombstone of Piero and Giovanni Medici, put him among the most significant artists of Florence already in the mid-1460s.
By the beginning of the 60s, the bronze statue “Putto with a Dolphin” (for the Medici villa in Careggi), which became widely known, also belongs. Executed with remarkable technical skill, it made such a strong impression that numerous reflections of the image of "Putto with a Dolphin" arose in Florentine art until the beginning of the 16th century. The enormous popularity of these two works by Verrocchio, which affirm the power of youth, the joy of life, the lightness and grace of heroes, natural in their behavior, quickly made the unknown jeweler one of the most famous sculptors of Florence.
In the second half of the 1860s and 70s, Verrocchio worked fruitfully and intensely: in addition to many magnificent tombstones, each of which is a completed work of art, he created a series of wonderful sculptural portraits: “Madonna and Child”, “Portrait of Giuliano Medici”, “Portrait of a Young Woman with a Bouquet of Flowers”, “Dead Christ”, “Christ and the Apostle Thomas”, etc. The most mature of the monumental works of Verrocchio is the equestrian monument of Bartolomeo Colleoni, which adorns Piazza San Giovanni e Paolo in Venice. A huge charge of energy, an impulse of movement and concentrated will turn the rider and horse into a single organism. This all-destroying impulse made a huge impression on his contemporaries.
A little more than twenty years separate the famous Venetian monument from the first independent steps of the master in sculpture (the gravestone of Cosimo Medici), but their difference speaks of the colossal path that Verrocchio has gone through in his work over the years.
The work of Verrocchio the painter is of independent importance: he is considered one of the creators of the pictorial style of the late 15th century. Andrea Verrocchio developed his own pictorial style, which was distinguished by a special plasticity, soft picturesqueness, and a balanced color scheme. At the same time, his works carried a deep dramatic motive, which was appreciated and developed by the master's students. Among the best works of Verrocchio in painting - "Baptism", "Madonna and Child"(late 1460s), "Tovy and the Angel"(c. 1473), "Madonna and Child with St. John the Baptist and Donatus"(late 1470s; completed by L. di Credi in 1486).
His workshop in Florence was the most important artistic center in the 1470s - 80s. The painters S. Botticelli, Perugino, L. di Credi, Leonardo da Vinci studied here. It was the pictorial heritage of Verrocchio that was the starting point for the development of their artistic individualities.
He was buried in the Choni family tomb in the church of San Ambrogio.
Andrea del Verrocchio (Andrea del Verrocchio, real name Andrea di Michele Cioni - Andrea di Michele Choni, and he took the name Verrocchio from his teacher, the jeweler Verrocchio) (1435, Florence - 1488, Venice) - Italian sculptor and painter of the Renaissance, one of teachers of Leonardo da Vinci.
The Florentine Andrea Verrocchio belongs to the galaxy of outstanding masters of the Renaissance. He was not as decisive an innovator as the great sculptors of the first half of the century - Donatello and Ghiberti, who opened new paths in this art. Verrocchio is not like such a revolutionary in sculpture as Michelangelo, who began working later, on the threshold of the 16th century. The historic site of Verrocchio is more modest, but it is highly worthy of respect. This master is, as it were, one of the links between the two periods of great upsurges in the art of sculpture in the Renaissance. Almost equally justified are the views of those who want to see in him a great pioneer who paved the last paths to the art of the "Golden Age", and those who consider him only a skillful follower of Castagno, Baldovinetti and even an imitator of Sandro Botticelli, who was nine years younger Andrea, but advanced in painting before his friend. Verrocchio is the heir to the creators of Renaissance sculpture, that is, the masters of the first half of the century, and the predecessor of the High Renaissance masters, one of whom (Leonardo da Vinci) was a direct student of Verrocchio.
Andrea del Verrocchio is known to us mainly as a sculptor. In the documents of the XV century, he is never mentioned as a painter. Few of his paintings have been preserved, and among them the only one that quite reliably belongs to him can be considered only the "Baptism of Christ" in the Florentine Academy.
Initially, Andrea was attached to sophisticated decorativeness, as he studied jewelry, he also turned to sculpture, in part because of the fall in demand for jewelry. But it was the hereditary jewelers of the Renaissance, who took up sculpture, had a considerable influence on the development of bronze cast plasticity. They knew how to use chasing and engraving, they knew how to grind metal and understood its specifics, and Verrocchio was one of the best metal connoisseurs. Bronze, with its strength and durability, which makes it possible to finish details with great precision, becomes his main material.
In 1465, Verrocchio created a tombstone for Cosimo de' Medici; the master managed to catch and realize the desire of the duke to perpetuate his name. At the end of this work, he found patrons in the person of representatives of the Medici family - it's like buying a lucky lottery ticket.
Tombstone over the grave of Cosimo de' Medici. 1465 Andrea del Verrocchio
Crypt. Tomb of Cosimo de' Medici. 1465 Andrea del Verrocchio
The "jewellery" of the artist's sculptural style first appeared in his bronze casting that adorns the tomb of Giovanni and Pietro Medici in the church of San Lorenzo in Florence. This early work is an example of exquisite decorativeism.
Tomb of Pietro and Giovanni Medici. 1469-72 Andrea del Verrocchio. Marble, porphyry, bronze. San Lorenzo, Florence
In 1476 Andrea del Verrocchio created statue of David- an elegant bronze statue. It was intended for the Medici villa, but in 1576 Lorenzo and Giuliano transferred it to the Signoria Palace in Florence.
The brave young biblical shepherd who defeated the giant and cut off his head is depicted as seeing an elegant, slender young man. With his pose, costume, he resembles a virtuoso dancer from a court ballet rather than a poor shepherd and hero fighter. Verrocchio's skill in arranging the figure and choosing proportions, in finishing surfaces and details is almost of a jeweler's character.
Young David. 1473-75 Andrea del Verrocchio. Bronze. Bargello Museum, Florence
Young David. Detail. 1473-75 Andrea del Verrocchio. Bronze. Bargello Museum, Florence
Young David. Detail. 1473-75 Andrea del Verrocchio. Bronze. Bargello Museum, Florence
Tradition says that "David" was one of the most striking results of the spiritual union of Leonardo da Vinci's student and teacher Andrea del Verrocchio - they say, Leonardo himself posed for her. A kind of half-smile plays on the face of the bronze David, according to the same legend - which later became a distinctive feature of the style of Leonardo da Vinci.
In addition to the statue of David, commissioned by Lorenzo Medici, the sculptor made sketches of standards and knightly armor for the tournaments of 1469, 1471 and 1475 and a sculptural composition "Boy with Dolphin" for the fountain of the Villa Medici in Careggi.
Boy with a dolphin. Around 1470 Andrea del Verrocchio. Bronze. Palazzo Vecchio, Florence
Lorenzo Medici. 1480 Andrea del Verrocchio. Painted terracotta. National Gallery of Art, Washington
Giuliano di Piero Medici. 1475-78 Andrea del Verrocchio. Terracotta (originally painted)
And extremely poetic, tender, subtle "Portrait of a Woman" 1475 from the National Museum of the Bargello in Florence. This is an extremely simple, without any pretensions and exaggerations - and a very human portrait. With delicate, fragile fingers, a young woman presses a bunch of flowers to her chest. This gives a special femininity and warmth to the image.
Woman with a bouquet. 1475-80s Andrea del Verrocchio. Marble. National Museum of the Bargello, Florence
Woman with a bouquet. Detail. 1475-80s Andrea del Verrocchio. Marble. National Museum of the Bargello, Florence
And one more portrait, in a similar style - very lively, gentle, with its own character:
Young woman. 1465-66 Andrea del Verrocchio. Marble. Frick Collection, New York
In the years 1463-1487, Verrocchio completed the sculptural group "Thomas' Persuasion"(1476-1483, Florence, Orsanmichele church; restored in 1986-1993), one of the customers of which was Piero Medici.
According to the Gospel of John, Thomas was absent at the first appearance of Jesus Christ to the other apostles and, having learned from them that Jesus had risen from the dead and came to them, he said: "If I do not see in His hands the wounds from the nails, and I will not put my finger into the wounds nails, and I will not put my hand into his side, I will not believe." Jesus, who appeared, allowed Thomas to put his finger into the wounds (according to some theologians, Thomas refused to do this, while others believe that Thomas touched the wounds of Christ, Thomas believed and said "My Lord and my God!".
Thomas' assurance. 1476-83 Andrea del Verrocchio. Bronze. Orsanmichele, Florence
In 1482, Verrocchio left for Venice to work on an equestrian statue of the condottiere Bartolomeo Colleoni.
In this four-meter equestrian statue of the condottiere Bartolomeo Colleoni in Venice, Verrocchio seems to compete with Donatello. In contrast to the stern grandeur of Gattamelatta, Verrocchio embodies in his Colleoni the image of a frantic, battle-ridden military leader. Standing up in his stirrups, the condottiere, as it were, examines the battlefield, ready to rush forward, dragging the troops behind him. His body is tense, his face is distorted by an expression of cruelty and blind rage, everything in his appearance speaks of an indomitable will to win. This interpretation reflected not only the desire for greater showiness of the monument, but also an interest in psychological characteristics, in conveying the state of a warrior at the time of the battle. In essence, what we have before us is not a specific living person, but a conditional image of a "mighty warrior."
Renaissance artists diligently studied the real human body, the laws of its structure, proportions and movements. By the end of the 15th century, artists were increasingly engaged in anatomical studies. Knowledge of the structure of the human body from the inside - its bones, tendons, muscles - made it possible to achieve special persuasiveness in the depiction of both naked and dressed figures, their movements. However, such a deepening of artists in the study of the human body had such a side effect as an increase in dryness in the interpretation of plastic masses. Andrea Verrocchio was just one of those who was especially prone to dryish, detailed and precise finishing of the details of the figure, face and costume. As if sensing some danger from this side, he tried to use an emphatically heroic and monumental principle as a counterweight.
Bartolomeo Colleone himself embodied in bronze is an Italian condottiere. Quite unprincipled - he served in Milan against Venice, then in Venice against Milan - but all this was quite consistent with the spirit of that time. After the successful conquests made under his leadership, the condottiere bequeathed his fortune to Venice on the condition that after his death a monument would be erected to him in Piazza San Marco (the Venetians had a ban on erecting monuments in the main square of the city). In order to receive a considerable inheritance from Colleoni, who died in 1475, the Venetian authorities cheated by erecting a monument to the commander - exactly the one that Verrocchio created - on the square in front of the Scuola San Marco, next to the church of Santi Giovanni e Paolo .
Equestrian statue of Bartolomeo Colleoni. 1481-1495 Andrea del Verrocchio. Bronze. Venice
The artist died in Venice in 1488, without completing the statue he had begun.
The few paintings by Verrocchio are distinguished by the sharpness and accuracy of the drawing, the sculptural form in the modeling of forms ( "Madonna", circa 1470, Art Gallery, Berlin-Dahlem) and the famous "Baptism of Christ" from the Uffizi Gallery.
Madonna and Child. 1470s Andrea del Verrocchio. State Museums, Berlin
The Baptism of Christ is Verrocchio's most famous painting. It was written in the early 70s. quattrocento, that is, at the end of the Early Renaissance in Italy, and in general is very typical of this era. In the depiction of figures, participants in the baptism scene, one can still feel the influence of the traditions of medieval painting. They appear incorporeal and flat, as if carved from dry hard material. Their movements and gestures are angular and stiff, as if they only move in two dimensions. Facial expressions are abstract and devoid of individuality. These are not living people, but symbolic images, majestic and spiritualized. The landscape in the background lacks perspective and looks like a picturesque scenery. And the landscape, and the figures, and the whole composition seem to be conditional.
On the left side of the picture, the figure of an angel involuntarily stands out for its naturalness and ease, written not by Verrocchio, but by his young student Leonardo da Vinci. This angel, so graceful in his kneeling and turning his head, with a deep and radiant look, is a creation of another era - the High Renaissance, a truly golden age of Italian art.
Baptism of Christ. 1472-75 Andrea del Verrocchio. Oil on wood. Uffizi Gallery, Florence
Baptism of Christ. Detail from 1472-75 Andrea del Verrocchio. Oil on wood. Uffizi Gallery, Florence
Quite famous is his painting "Tovy and the Angel" on a very popular plot at the time.
Tobius and the angel. 1470-80s Andrea del Verrocchio. Tempera. National Gallery, London
...One righteous man was suffering from an eye disease and was preparing for death. He asked his son Tobias to go to Media and collect some money for him, and the son sets off with his faithful dog. Tobius did not know the road well and found himself a fellow traveler who agreed to accompany him. Tobius was unaware that the fellow traveler he was fortunate enough to meet was the archangel Raphael. When they approached the Tigris River, Tobius decided to swim, but suddenly "the fish began to jump out of the water, as if they wanted to devour him. Then the angel said to him: Take the fish. And the young man lay down, holding the fish with his body and pulled it ashore." Following the instructions of the angel, Tobias fried the fish so that it could be eaten, separating the heart, liver and bile from it, for, as the angel said: "... touching the heart and liver, if the devil or an evil spirit overcomes someone, burn incense before that man or that woman, and then everyone will be at peace. As for bile, then anoint a person with an eyesore with it, and he will be healed. Since Tobias was constantly accompanied by an angel, his journey ended happily. He raised money for his father, and when he returned home, he restored his father's sight.
Very persuasive, unlike others Saint Jerome- without the obligatory lion, with a strange smile, surprisingly lively and surprisingly unearthly.
Saint Jerome. 1465 Andrea del Verrocchio. Gallery Palatina (Palazzo Pitti), Florence
And an absolutely gorgeous drawing, sketch girl's head. Indeed, Leonardo da Vinci learned a lot from his teacher.
Girl's head (sketch). Andrea del Verrocchio. Drawing
I would also like to point out the so-called The perfect portrait of Alexander the Great- magnificent, original and extremely finely executed - one of the best examples of the artist's skill - a fantasy helmet, a screaming breastplate, wonderfully finished armor.
Perfect portrait of Alexander the Great. 1480s. Andrea del Verrocchio. Marble. Private collection
As already mentioned, Verrocchio died in Venice in 1488, without having had time to cast it in bronze and without completing the fountain project commissioned by the Hungarian king.
2. Great sculptors of Florence: Donatello, Ghiberti, Verrocchio
From relief to sculpture
Today we will talk about Quattrocento sculpture, because, probably, it was in sculpture that art made the biggest step compared even with the Proto-Renaissance. This can be seen already at the very beginning of the 15th century, in its first half, on the example of the famous sculptors Donatello, Ghiberti, Verrocchio.
And in order to understand the scale of this step, one must step back a little, because the Romanesque architecture of Italy, unlike, say, France and even Germany, was not so filled with sculpture. Well, here are the reliefs ... Basically, of course, Romanesque reliefs are not very deep such compositions, and there was practically no round sculpture at all. Those. for Italy, the abundance of sculpture on the facades was not very characteristic. We see this in the cathedrals in Piacenza, Ferrara, the famous church of San Zeno in Verona ... And this is such an Italian specificity.
Partly in Northern Italy, you can see beautiful gates similar to what we see in Germany, for example, in the same San Zeno, with sculptural images. By the way, we can see similar gates, the so-called Magdeburg Gates, in the Church of St. Sophia in Novgorod. Of course, these gates were once brought to Novgorod from Western Europe, but it was such a common Romanesque culture that used figures of low reliefs and not very intricate compositions.
But gradually, of course, sculpture gained its plasticity, and in the XIII century. we already see developed compositions. We remembered Niccolo and Giovanni Pisano, who made interesting reliefs and were already almost approaching a round sculpture.
One can recall Arnolfo di Cambio, who made both tombstones and the famous statue of St. Peter, which is today in Rome. But still, they were all tied to a plane, horizontal or vertical, stood in niches or were leaning against the wall.
But the Quattrocento, of course, moved the sculpture, pushed it forward, perhaps for the first time after antiquity, returned the circular detour to the sculpture. In fact, the beginning of early Renaissance sculpture is considered to be 1401. This is the famous competition for decorating the gates of the Florentine Baptistery of San Giovanni. As we know, Ghiberti won this competition. Although there were two winners, Brunelleschi and Ghiberti, but it was Ghiberti who did it, we will return to this later.
The generosity of Donatello
And we will start the conversation not with Brunelleschi's rival, who was Ghiberti in this competition, but with his friend Donatello, because it is Donatello who can really be considered the founder of Quattrocento sculpture and Renaissance sculpture in general. It was he who made her so plastically perfect.
Here, for example, is the statue of Donatello on the facade of the Uffizi Gallery. Well, of course, it is later and cannot be considered a portrait, but nevertheless we start with it. Donatello, or Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi, was born into the family of Niccolò di Betto Bardi, a wealthy wool comber. He studied at the workshop of Lorenzo Ghiberti, where he mastered, in particular, the technique of bronze casting, in which, in fact, Ghiberti succeeded.
But Donatello's work was more influenced not by his immediate teacher, but by his friend, Filippo Brunelleschi. They became friends pretty early. Brunelleschi's development of linear perspective also influenced Donatello's vision of space. And in general, their friendship - they traveled a lot together, went to excavations in Rome - turned Donatello to the ancient understanding of plasticity.
Vasari writes that Donatello was a very generous person, very kind, treated his friends very well, never attached any importance to money. His students and friends took from him as much as they needed. In his workshop hung a bag where he put money, and anyone could throw his hand into it. Of course, we know that Vasari was such a person, prone to fiction, but still I think that this characterization is close to reality, because indeed, apparently, Donatello was an open, generous, creative person and not very down to earth .
Church of Orsanmichele
He was born in 1386. In the 1400s, in the 1410s, he works on the so-called communal orders, i.e. on the orders of the city, and makes, like many, in fact, a sculpture for a very interesting church - Orsanmichele. Let's dwell a little on this church, because many sculptors of this time and even a later period were noted in it.
By itself, this church is very interesting, because outwardly it does not look like a church. This is a three-story rather large building, which served as both a granary and a church. Those. on the upper floors there were offices and storerooms, and on the lower floor there was a chapel, probably so that people could pray before their transactions.
The name Orsanmichele itself translates as "Saint Michael in the Garden" because the site was once a monastery dedicated to Saint Michael, the Archangel Michael. Either there was a garden, or it was simply called “in the garden”, because the idea of the Virgin Mary in the garden, or angels in the garden is one of the late Gothic ideas, sort of like a return to a paradise state.
Interestingly, when Florence survived the plague, many contributors began to invest gratitude to God here - their donations. And gradually the church ousted the granary from there. Maybe for the first time, or maybe even the only time, because Florence is still a very peculiar city, based on capital, on trade, on everything so earthly. Perhaps for the first time, or perhaps even the only rare time, art and religion have ousted this market element from here and the entire lower floor has been given over to the church.
There was a plague in 1348, and the plague survivors donated 35,000 florins, which was more than the city's annual budget. And it was with this money that Orsanmichel made a large marble tabernacle with the image of Our Lady by Bernardo Daddi. This is the middle of the 14th century, when this grain market, the granary and trading shops, which were at first in the arcades of this building, were really squeezed out of here. The church expanded and occupied almost the entire first floor.
Sculptures in the niches of the facade of Orsanmichele
And outside, various craft associations, various trade associations began to order their patrons, whose statues were placed in beautiful niches.
Just one such statue is made by Donatello, who is still quite young. He makes St. George. And already this Saint George declares the young sculptor as a very interesting, courageous innovator, a man who is not afraid to tear the sculpture from the wall. Although it fits in a niche, it stands freely there, and it seems that St. George can get out of it, and we will calmly go around him and see him from all sides. Those. she is so complete.
An even more interesting work, also one of the earliest, from 1408, is "David". But this is not the “David” that Donatello glorified, but “David”, which shows that working with stone, working with marble is very important for Donatello, although, like many, including his teacher Ghiberti, he began as jeweler. But he moves away from what others focus on, from the development of some individual details, but rather he begins to generalize the form, freely letting such folds flow, giving freedom to the pose, etc. We see that it is in the face of Donatello that sculpture departs from what it was in Gothic, from such graphic elements, and moves on to very plastic interpretations. And, of course, the very head of David looks like a statue of some Roman young god - i.e. clearly he appeals to the ancient heritage.
Bronze David Donatello
Of course, Donatello's most famous work is his bronze David. Here is a slightly different story. First, different material. And one can also see the free relationship of the sculptor with the material and with the form. Because in the first, earlier "David", and in this we see that he takes a young being. But if, nevertheless, in the previous “David”, 1408, the whole figure is traditionally covered with a robe, only through it we see good proportions, free movement, setting the figure, like in antiquity, relying on one leg, then here Donatello undresses his hero , makes him, on the one hand, defenseless ... And he shows him already a winner, shows him trampling Goliath's head with one foot.
Indeed, according to the Holy Scriptures, according to the Bible, as we read, David was young. He refused armor, because any armor was great for him. And he comes out with one sling. True, Donatello gives him a sword, with which he apparently cut off the head of Goliath. But in one hand he still holds a stone, which, in fact, he launched through a sling at Goliath. And this young body, which has not yet taken shape to the end, still does not have any such muscles that will even be ... You immediately remember Michelangelo's "David", also young, but quite in such a sports, as they say, form.
Here we see this truly revolutionary step forward, because such an almost youthful-girlish beauty of this hero somehow does not fit with this struggle. And you understand that he did it not by human effort, but by the grace of God that was in a person given to God. He went out against the giant Goliath, relying only on God's power. This is a beautiful, somewhat flirtatious hat - somehow it doesn’t even fit with the image of a warrior.
However, this is exactly the kind of David that Donatello makes. This is a sculpture that looks interesting from all sides. This is a sculpture that is completely made based on a circular walk.
One can even compare two "Davids", an earlier one and a later one. Bronze David is already a mature work, 1440. David made in stone is 1408, maybe 1409. Of course, they have something in common, but it is clear how plasticity, volume, freedom, movement, proportion, etc. are being conquered inside Donatello's work.
Crucifixes by Brunelleschi and Donatello
Brunelleschi started as a sculptor, but then left the sculpture. He always strove for harmony, calculated his dome very scrupulously, thought it over so that there was space, so that all proportions were observed. Therefore, his crucified Christ, although beautifully executed anatomically and beautifully depicted his suffering, is still a harmonious approach, a work that can be admired.
Donatello nevertheless shows a body that is already disfigured by death, there is no longer harmony in it, it seems to sag, because for Donatello this truth of the image was more important. As the truth triumphs in young David, such a peculiar truth, he seems to emphasize this youth, which itself could not win, but won only by God's power, so here we see the sagging of this body, which is no longer possible to admire, but you can only sob and cry.
Reliefs by Donatello
Of course, he was not only a master of round sculpture, but also a master of relief, and his reliefs are beautiful. Here is the famous “Pazzi Madonna”, where he makes in relief not just an image, but an image that is psychologically very filled. In general, I must say, Donatello's merit was that he seemed to be moving away from distant images in sculpture, but moving towards such realism. Realism was understood at that time as the truth of the earth. In the Middle Ages, of course, the contemplation of the heavenly was called realism, i.e. heavenly reality. The same Thomas Aquinas calls God the most real, the only reality, everything else is real exactly insofar as the divine is present in it.
And since that time, starting with the Quattrocento, maybe even a little earlier, when the gaze from heaven descends to the earth, that which reflects the truth of life is already called realism. And here such, perhaps, not very beautiful Mother of God, not an ideal image, but it is an image of a real mother who hugs her son with real feeling. It is somehow very customary for us to belittle this and say that now, the period begins when the Mother of God is painted as a simple Florentine, a resident of Siena or any other city. But in fact, for those masters, this was a conquest: they showed that these were not abstract feelings of the Holy Virgin Mary for her son, but these were real feelings. And if these are real feelings, then this is the reality of the incarnation, which means that the sufferings of the Mother and the Son will also be real, and so on. Those. for the masters of the Renaissance, this realism was filled with religious experience, the approach of God to man. The gap between heaven and earth is getting smaller.
Some researchers write that Donatello “draws with a chisel”, that he brings a lot of picturesque into his reliefs. First, we see that it brings perspective. He has several plans in relief. For example, in the relief of the Siena Baptistery, the composition "Feast of Herod" is known. We see several plans in architecture. This is something that not everyone manages to do in painting, and Donatello is already doing it in sculpture. Perhaps at that time he was the most consistent student of Brunelleschi in this sense, who developed perspective, of course, applied it in architecture, applied it in drawings, etc. But most of all, of course, we see it in Donatello.
Or, for example, this relief in the Pisa Cathedral of St. Anthony, which depicts the dead Christ. Here, too, there is the anatomy of the human body, the materiality of the folds. Here, perhaps, there is no perspective, because there is a very clear backdrop, but, in any case, there is this desire for authenticity. Realism is understood as authenticity. You look at it and understand that the suffering of Christ is real. His human body is real, his human suffering is real, and his human death is real.
Sometimes it seems that he goes into deliberate brutality, rudeness, but sometimes he does very elegant things, such as, for example, this famous "Annunciation". This is the Cavalcanti altar in the church of Santa Croce - Holy Cross. Even gold and marble are used here, and this scene is very elegantly done when the archangel Gabriel brings the news of the birth of the Savior to the virgin Mary. This composition is very interesting precisely in the sense that here the sculpture approaches painting. Even this golden cutting gives picturesqueness to plasticity.
And, of course, we again see amazing faces. They are completely human, just with human psychology. Such a somewhat surprised-sublime archangel, such a somewhat contemplative and slightly frightened Mary.
Vasari writes like this, calling him Donato: “Donato was to such an extent and to such an extent amazing in every act of his that we can safely say that in his skill, taste and knowledge he was the first among new artists to glorify the art of sculpture and good drawing. , and deserves all the more praise because in his time, antique things had not yet been removed from the earth, with the exception of columns, sarcophagi and triumphal arches. They also provided a powerful initiative to the fact that Cosimo Medici awakened the desire to bring to Florence those antiquities that were and still are in the Medici house and which were all restored by the hand of Donato.
This is a very important remark, because, as I said, together with Brunelleschi, Donatello went to excavations in Rome. Indeed, much has not yet been excavated, and the little that he saw, he somehow immediately turned into his work. Apparently, he was so fascinated by antiquity that he also infected one of his customers, the most influential, Cosimo de Medici, so that he acquired antique things. And he, Donatello, restored them. This is a very important point, because during the Quattrocento period there really is an accumulation of knowledge about antiquity. We can say that the return to antiquity happened a little earlier, that it was rather intuitive. And since that time, archeology has been developing, and, as we would say, scientific knowledge has been developing, i.e. research and restoration, accumulation of documentary knowledge, etc. And all this immediately translates into artistic practice. In Donatello, at least, this is very well seen.
Equestrian statue of the condottiere Gattamelata
One of the brilliant and, perhaps, the first works in this genre is the equestrian statue of the condottiere Gattamelata, which was made by Donatello for Venice. Probably, after the famous antique equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius, which Donatello clearly focused on (he saw it, of course, in Rome), this is the next such significant equestrian figure. Again, it is designed for a roundabout, very monumental, very expressive. Other sculptors will then be guided by it. But first, perhaps, two words about who, in fact, Donatello glorified with this monument.
Erasmo de Narni was the ruler of Padua. Gattamelata is a nickname. It sounds rather strange in Italian, because “gatta” is Italian for “cat”, and “melata” is for “honeycomb”. Therefore, this nickname is very differently explained. All together - either "spotted cat" or "honey cat", which could refer to his character. Maybe the person was flattering. Or "honey-colored cat." Maybe he wore some kind of armor spotted. Some erect this nickname to the name of his mother - Gattelli. And some attribute this to tactics, the ability to lure the enemy like a cat. In general, it is very incomprehensible. For us, in Russian, it sounds normal, but for Italians it sounds a little strange.
Donatello cast this statue in 1447, but it was installed much later, already in 1453. As I said, the monument to Marcus Aurelius, which now stands on the Capitol, served as a model. But here everything is somehow more brutal: a more powerful horse is already a little tight, even, I would say, the rider sits on it not very gracefully. His legs are slightly shortened so that they do not hang down, he specially shortened these legs. And in order to somehow connect the two figures, Donatello does a very interesting thing: on the one hand, he gives the rod in the right hand of the condottiere, and on the left he has a sword hanging diagonally. And this diagonal, as it were, brings the figure of a horse out of static. In any case, this is a truly monumental and very significant work, showing that Donatello was able to think monumentally.
Donatello in his later years
For some time he lives in Siena, then returns again to Florence. It was rumored that towards the end of his life he worked little, maybe he was sick a lot. By the way, he lived a long life when he died, he was about 80 years old, which, of course, was quite a significant lifespan for that time. But it is hardly possible to say about him that at the end of his life his creative energy ran out. Although sometimes some researchers write about this, calling his later works a little retrograde, returning to some kind of pre-Renaissance plastic, a little, perhaps, more Gothic.
It doesn't seem to me. It seems to me that they may be less monumental, if we look, for example, at the last two works - the sculptures of John the Baptist and St. Mary Magdalene. They are marked with the 1450s, most likely it is the 1455th, i.e. this is not even the last, but the previous decade before death. Maybe, indeed, by the end of his life he did not work so much. But these works, completed towards the end of his life, show that he still remains a sculptor who very clearly feels the plasticity of the human body.
Here he certainly makes some pretty detailed clothes. And he feels the sculpture not just as an image of some abstraction, but he kind of gets used to each of his characters, he sees a person. He sees a man in John the Baptist, he sees Mary Magdalene, who has already lost all her beauty. But it is clear that inside he empathizes with her. He is a sculptor who passes everything through himself. What we will not see, say, with other sculptors. Therefore, we can say that he is indeed in many ways the founder. Although Ghiberti, perhaps, starts earlier, he even studied with him, but it was Donatello who made a lot of key, turning points.
He died, as I said, at the age of 80 in 1466. He was buried with great honors in the church of San Lorenzo, which is decorated with his work. On the famous panel by Paolo Uccello, which depicts five Renaissance artists, he is captured already at such an advanced age, apparently as the next generation of masters remembered him.
Vasari writes: “His death caused endless grief to his fellow citizens, artists and everyone who knew him during his lifetime. Therefore, in order to honor him after death more than they honored him during his lifetime, they arranged for him the most honorable funeral in the aforementioned church, and all the painters, architects, sculptors, goldsmiths and almost all the people of this city saw him off, in which they did not stop composing for a long time. in honor of his various kinds of poems in various languages ... "I think that Vasari did not exaggerate here, because indeed Donatello lived such a long life, outlived his teacher Ghiberti, outlived his friend Brunelleschi, and at such an honorable age, of course, very many of him praised.
And there was something to praise! Indeed, he was the first, for example, to study the mechanism of motion. That's why he has such free figures: because he studied the mechanism of movement of the human body. In his sculptures, he tried not only to repeat the principle of ancient sculpture - relying on one leg - but to repeat this movement. He always has a more complex movement. He was the first to depict mass action in his reliefs. He began to interpret clothes in connection with the plasticity of the body.
He set the task of expressing an individual portrait in sculpture. I would like to call his saints portraits. Not just a canonical image with such a general facial expression, but something so psychological and realistic that it gives individuality to this or that character.
He perfected bronze casting, marble modeling. He very carefully, surprisingly finished work with marble. A round sculpture - he was the first to freely make this roundabout like this. And, of course, these three-plane reliefs - i.e. he introduced perspective into reliefs. All this was done by Donatello.
Lorenzo Ghiberti - from jeweler to sculptor
Now we will talk about another sculptor, perhaps no less significant. Even researchers sometimes pay more attention to him. This is Ghiberti. But compared to Donatello, he is colder, more distant. He, of course, masters, but even in terms of human qualities, and this was noted by contemporaries, he was a completely different person. Here is his self-portrait on the famous Paradise Gates of the Florentine Baptistery - the same baptistery, which, in fact, glorified him, thanks to which Ghiberti took up sculpture, because before that he himself was a jeweler, and studied with jewelers, and thought of himself more, maybe , in small plastic, but here I had to make such quite monumental sculptures.
He was born in 1378 in Florence. His stepfather, Bertoluccio Ghiberti, was a jeweler. In fact, he started in his workshop. He also tried himself in painting, but his picturesque works have not been preserved. Although many masters of the Renaissance tried themselves in different genres, Ghiberti still left a memory of himself as a sculptor.
By the way, he wrote well himself, he was such, I would even say, an art theorist. Here is what he writes about himself: “In my youthful years, in the summer of the birth of Christ 1400, I left here because of the epidemic that appeared in Florence, as well as the misfortune that struck my homeland, together with one outstanding painter, who was called by Signor Malatesta in Pesaro. He entrusted us with one room, and we painted it with the greatest diligence. My spirit was very keen on painting, and this was the reason that the works entrusted to us by the signor, as well as the company in which I was, brought me fame and favor. But at this time, my friends wrote to me that the trustees of the temple of San Giovanni Battista sent out invitations to all the masters who were famous for their learning and from whom they wanted to receive evidence.
Actually, here he is just talking about the fact that he was invited to this competition in 1401 in San Giovanni Battista. This is not a church, this is just the baptistery of San Giovanni, and a competition was announced for decorating the doors. As I said, the paintings have not survived, although Ghiberti writes about them that they gave him both fame and pleasure, so we can not say anything about his paintings. But his sculptural work is well known.
Heavenly and North Gates of the Baptistery of San Giovanni
To begin with, I will show the show jumping works of Brunelleschi and Ghiberti, which were singled out by the jury of the competition as the best. Preference was still given to Ghiberti, although, in my opinion, Brunelleschi solved the theme of the sacrifice of Abraham in a much more interesting way. Vasari writes, of course, that they were friends, that they were given the opportunity to make these gates together, and only the generosity of Brunelleschi, who saw that Ghiberti was superior to him, led Ghiberti to work alone. In fact, everything was not so. Brunelleschi was very offended by the fact that he was not chosen alone, he was still a vain person, and he stepped back from this work.
And Ghiberti, of course, took it for himself and made what Michelangelo later called the Gates of Paradise, i.e. gate to paradise. Indeed, the east door of the baptistery, with scenes from the Old Testament, is excellent even in comparison with the other doors he made. There are three gates on which several sculptors worked, and two gates belong to Ghiberti (eastern and northern). The southern gate was made by Andrea Pisano: the life of John the Baptist, an allegory of Virtue, etc. But the Old Testament on the eastern gate and the New Testament on the northern gate were made by Ghiberti. Of course he had the help of his disciples, and even with the help of his disciples he worked for decades on this gate.
Ghiberti treated this order as an honor, because, of course, it put him on a high pedestal as one of the first masters of Florence. But at the same time, the researchers write that he was a man who knew how to squeeze money out of the signoria, out of the city fathers. Therefore, he often slowed down with orders, all the time adding and adding to his fee. And even slowed down to get more for these gates. Well, when the work was finished, numerous citizens of Florence gathered to look at the creation of his hands and, of course, everyone was delighted. Other craftsmen came and paid tribute to Ghiberti's craftsmanship. And then, of course, he is instructed to make one more gate.
It is interesting that a bronze copy of these gates is installed here in Russia in the Kazan Cathedral in St. Petersburg. So all the time we seem to have a roll call between Italy and Russia.
Indeed, here, especially in these gates of Paradise, Ghiberti, one might say, surpassed himself. He also makes such pictorial and plastic compositions. For example, his "Creation of Adam and Eve" is a very elegant, very beautifully constructed composition, where there are several plans. Perhaps it is not as developed as in Donatello's, still the plane, so to speak, gravitates, but there are elements of the landscape here, the folds flow very beautifully, the proportions are amazing, especially of the female body. And, of course, this plastic freedom is also present here.
The "Sacrifice of Abraham" is already presented in a different interpretation on these gates. Here, too, there is a landscape, several scenes are connected and there is something that people loved very much at that time - these are the so-called realistic details. For example, the central place: the angels who are talking with Abraham are pushed a little to the left corner, the most important scene is given in the upper right part.
And in the middle of the lower part stands, for example, a donkey, which is turned back to the viewer. Such details were very much loved at that time - realistic details that dilute the sacred plot, add earthly realities to the sacred plots.
Here is a wonderful, of course, composition "Solomon and the Queen of Sheba." It's just such a beautiful court scene, where Solomon and the Queen of Sheba are standing in the center, holding hands, people around are also in such free poses.
The northern gates are made somewhat simpler, with squares in which individual scenes are inscribed, more concise, inscribed in such curly frames. But inside them, although there are less saturated compositions, there are still very beautifully made scenes.
For example, this is "The Temptation of Christ". It is more concise than on the Heavenly Gates, but no less expressive. Still, the masters of the Quattrocento were very striving each time for this individual interpretation - to do something in a new way, as it was not before them. In this sense, we can say that each of them was a kind of avant-garde who wanted to move a little further than his predecessors. Here, for example, is "Scourge". It is made against the background of such a clearly antique, beautiful portico.
Sculptures by Ghiberti for Orsanmichele
I must say that Ghiberti was still not a man who grabbed stars from heaven. He has much less outstanding works than Donatello. Maybe this is my personal opinion. In any case, those figures that he made for Orsanmichele… I have already spoken about this church, where there was once a granary, and then everything turned into a church with external niches, where sculptures of saints are inserted. And here, of course, Ghiberti also noted. And his sculptures, it seems to me, are less interesting. He seems to find such an average version of the image of a saint, which, perhaps, is easier to repeat to other people - less individualized, more idealistic, which then, perhaps, is more replicated, more will be referred to. But, of course, from an artistic point of view, it is less interesting.
Although, as a sculptor, he, of course, owns plasticity. For example, here is his figure of St. Stephen - you can see how he deliberately lays out these folds of St. Stephen's clothes in different ways, how he makes the face of the young deacon very pretty, but at the same time very attentive, with an attentive look. He gives him a book in his hands, showing that he is such a scientist. But if you do not sign that this is St. Stephen, you can say that this is a portrait of a certain schoolboy, a student of that time.
Perhaps more interesting is his John the Baptist. Here, somehow, perhaps, there is more individual interpretation, some kind of masculinity in the face and at the same time prayerful aspiration.
But still, it seems to me that in these statues there is more than what the viewer expects, which will become classical and so streamlined and almost none after some time, when such an average Catholic statue is developed. And this is a little pitiful, because where Donatello moved the sculpture, the canon worked out by Ghiberti, it seems to be locking it into this arch.
He has several tombstones, which, in general, are not bad, but I can’t call them outstanding either. For example, in Santa Maria Novella, the tombstone of Leonardo Dati. We can also see many such tombstones before and after Ghiberti.
His Madonnas are not as expressive as Donatello's Madonna Pazzi. He is, I would say, a sculptor who satisfies mass taste. Here the mass taste is already being formed, and it is formed by it. Therefore, they often put him forward, in front of Donatello, but it seems to me that Donatello is much more interesting.
Andrea del Verrocchio
We finish the conversation about sculpture with a man who was both a sculptor and a painter. Although he was valued more as a sculptor. This is Andrea del Verrocchio. Here is his portrait by Lorenzo di Credi. We see a rather simple, maybe not aristocratic face, but with very attentive eyes and such, I would say, a humble appearance. In fact, he was probably the most humble of all the masters, although it was he who brought up many masters who later surpassed him and even overshadowed him. Many masters started in his workshop: Leonardo da Vinci, Paolo Uccello, Sandro Botticelli, Pietro Perugino, and whoever did not study with him! And for the most part they were painters. But Andrea Verrocchio himself thought more of himself as a sculptor, although he was very fond of painting, and he was not bad at it.
Let's start with sculptures. His first significant work is a tombstone over the grave of Cosimo de' Medici. We have already said that the Medici were patrons, customers and were very good at choosing masters. And the tombstone above the grave of Cosimo de Medici seems very modest. Nevertheless, having made it, Verrocchio falls just into the cage of those masters who were especially approached and loved by the Medici.
We see its beautiful relief, which was made as a bas-relief portrait, where the character of Cosimo de Medici is visible, his portrait features are preserved. A firm look, compressed lips - it is clear that this is a man of will, deeds, words, who will not miss his own. That is, in fact, what he was.
His portraits of other members of this wonderful family are remarkable. For example, here is the handsome Giuliano Medici in Roman armor, with a beautiful hairstyle and a proudly raised head.
And the terracotta bust of Lorenzo the Magnificent has a completely different character. Andrea del Verrocchio made him so thoughtful, with a mournful crease between his eyebrows and compressed lips, a man withdrawn into himself. Those. this is the person who also bears the burden of power, and must be on the alert all the time, because enemies are constantly around. And at the same time, he was a man who made many people famous.
Verrocchio worked beautifully in different techniques - in marble, and in bronze, and in terracotta. This “Lady with Flowers” shows his ability to work with marble, because here marble literally glows, marble shows the tenderness of hands, the tenderness of skin, the fineness of fabric, the tenderness of a flower that this lady presses to her chest.
David - Verrocchio's version
Of course, Andrea Verrocchio's most famous work is his David. We talked about "David" by Donatello, and here is another David - David Verrocchio. Also young, but a completely different characteristic, a different image, a different vision. There is a legend that he made this image from the young Leonardo da Vinci. Indeed, Leonardo da Vinci, at a very young age, almost twelve, enters the workshop of Andrea Verrocchio. Here he begins to study and very quickly stands out among the masters, among the students. It is known that Leonardo da Vinci was handsome enough, and it is possible that his beauty attracted Verrocchio as a model. He takes it as a basis in the image of David. If at Donatello we saw David a little timid, a little even with some kind of, I would say, girlish plasticity, then here is a completely different David. Here, David is also young, maybe a little older, but he understands his role and knows his own worth. He does not trample on Goliath here, Goliath lies nearby, but he, akimbo, is proud of his victory.
The sculpture also has a circular path, beautifully solved plastically, because here the human body is shown, and the fabric, and such beautiful hair. And a young face with a little, I would say, a sarcastic grin. Here he realizes that he won. Another feature.
It is very interesting how the same subjects were solved by different masters. We can even compare three Davids, because, speaking of "David" by Donatello and "David" by Verrocchio, we, of course, cannot help but get ahead of ourselves, remembering - this conversation will be ahead - about "David" by Michelangelo. Here just there are different characteristics, very different. Different solutions to the image, different plastic solutions, different psychological approaches, different, one might say, artistic strategies. And this just says that the Renaissance gave a person the opportunity to prove himself both as a master and as a person.
Of course, always, in any art and at that time, the role of the order was great. But I think that such freedom, which the same Medici gave to the masters, paying for their work, but not loading them with some kind of ideological bindings, perhaps the artist never had. In any case, even the masters who worked nearby give very different results in their work.
Assurance of Saint Thomas
Andrea Verrocchio did the same for Orsanmichele, he also made a statue there, even a whole group. This is the "Assurance of Saint Thomas" when Christ shows the wounds to his disciple Thomas and says "Put your fingers in my wounds." Maybe this is not the best work of Verrocchio. Although, perhaps, he was proud of her, because this is a complex composition of two figures, they have a relationship, and at the same time there is a round trip. But this heap of folds, this kind of vagueness of positions... It seems to me that here he is much less interesting than even in his "David". In "David" he clearly goes even to some kind of dispute, some kind of rivalry with his predecessor Donatello. Here he expresses what only he could express.
But he was not an outstanding master. He was a good craftsman, he was a conscientious craftsman and picked up a lot even from his students. Researchers write that perhaps the greatness of Verrocchio is that he knew how to learn even from his students. But still, each artist has his own peaks and has his own passing works. This work, although it is often cited as the work of a great master, still loses a lot in front of David. “David” is more concise, “David” is more interesting both psychologically and spiritually. Nevertheless, this work is also significant. True, it must be said that Verrocchio did not complete it. It was then brought to perfection by his students.
Equestrian statue of Bartolomeo Colleoni
As a matter of fact, he did not complete several works at the end of his life for various reasons. And one of them, also, of course, a significant work is the equestrian statue of Bartolomeo Colleoni. We can already see that this is the second such significant work of equestrian statues. And in general, there is a desire to glorify warriors, a desire to glorify the condottieri, these heroes, in general, the heroic theme in the Renaissance is very significant. And these monuments are starting to multiply. We consider the first of them, and then there will be many more. But these first themes are interesting because they set, as it were, the line of development for subsequent monuments.
Verrocchio is commissioned to create a monument to the condottiere Colleoni in the mid-80s. His life is already declining, nevertheless he is a significant master, glorified, he is trusted with this work. It is known from documents that he started work in April 1486. He had only two years to live. And in his will already in 1488, he calls the manufacture of the equestrian statue just begun. A document dating back to this time says that he only made a model in clay. Those. this statue was cast by other people, his students. And even in the receipt it is said that out of the total amount of 1700 Venetian ducats, which relied on this monument, he was able to receive only 380. That is. this is really just the beginning of the work. But even despite the fact that others cast this statue, it is clear how it was solved. And it is also solved in a very interesting, original way. Of course, he could not help but know the monument to Donatello, but he decides his hero in a completely different way. This is a more powerful monument, designed even more, perhaps rudely.
If the horse is more expressive there, then here, of course, the rider is much more expressive. And it looks different from different angles. Donatello still has two main angles, but here are several. And I must say that, of course, he thought through all this in a small model, and then they were able to cast it all in bronze in a large size.
The face of the condottiere is very expressive. Again, this is the desire to show not the average hero, but a specific person. I don’t know how portraiture it is, but very expressive, with these rough features, a prominent hooked nose, with such an expression, from which, perhaps, the blood in the veins of enemies should go cold, with this determination.
And although the horse is calm enough, he only raised his leg and is slightly on the move, but it seems that the next movement of the condottiere will be, that he will pull the reins, the horse will rush, and then there will be no mercy for the enemies. His armor is also very powerful. His armor, his helmet - everything here really emphasizes strength and power. Perhaps even more so than Donatello's equestrian statue of Gattamelata.
Finished the monument, as I said, other people. We entrusted this to the foundry worker Alessandro Leopardi. Although it was said in the will that the master wants his student Lorenzo di Credi to complete it. This might be better. But even in this version, the idea and the plastic solution that Verrocchio himself offers are still visible. In the summer of 1492, the monument was cast, and in 1495 it was already in its place in Piazza San Giovanni di Paolo.
Paintings by Verrocchio
Few documents survived, but nonetheless they survived. And in all documents, Andrea Verrocchio is called a sculptor. And, in general, his contemporaries valued him mainly as a sculptor. But he also painted. Many painters came out of his workshop, as I have already said.
Among the many works attributed to Verrocchio, only one has been reliably documented. This is the "Baptism of Christ", where there is also an angel written by Leonardo da Vinci - this is also documented and all researchers talk about it. The fact is that the young Leonardo was a student of Verrocchio. Masters often, especially if the order was large, and it had to be done quickly, attracted their students to some minor details. As a rule, it was not the main figures who were trusted, but some elements of the landscape, or some details, clothes, painting, and then they brought everything to the end.
Is it so, no, but the legend says that this young student of his, whom we later know as the greatest artist, took and painted one of the angels himself. And when the teacher came and saw, he said: "I have nothing to do, you have surpassed me." Indeed, we see that the left angel is very different from everything that is in the whole picture, that he really surpasses all other figures in skill, in grace of execution. Probably so it was. Maybe. And again, to recognize the height of the student to the teacher is worth a lot.
But in defense, perhaps, Andrea Verrocchio will say that he himself was actually a good draftsman. His drawings speak for themselves. Maybe he was not a very good painter, because again, for a sculptor, working with color, space and air always presents some difficulty.
For example, his figurative compositions, of course, are more like such slightly painted sculptures, such as, for example, this “Madonna with upcoming saints”. Although, of course, those works that are attributed to him, whether it is reliable or not that he wrote it, we do not know, but there are also very nice ones.
In any case, I think that from Andrea Verrocchio we can make such a bridge already to the Quattrocento masters - painters. And indeed, even if he was not an outstanding painter, he could give a lot to those who later eclipsed his fame, and already made the glory of Florence as an outstanding painter.
Literature
- Argan J.K. History of Italian Art. M., 2000.
- Ghiberti Lorenzo. Comments. In book. Masters of Art about Art. T.2. Renaissance. Ed. A. A. Huber, V. N. Grashchenkov. M., 1966.
- Zuffi S. Revival. XV century. Quattrocento. Moscow: Omega, 2008.
- Lazarev V. N. The Beginning of the Early Renaissance in Italian Art. M., 1979.
- Libman M. Donatello. M., 1962.
- Peter W. Renaissance. Essays on art and poetry. M., 2006.
- Smirnova I.A. Italian art of the late XIII - XV centuries. M., 1987.
- Florence. The city and its masterpieces. Florence, CASA EDITRICE BONECHI, 1994.
