When I walked into the Verrocchio exhibit at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C, I thought I HAD to be looking at a copy or a model of the original Verrocchio masterpiece of David standing over the head of Goliath. There was NO POSSIBLE WAY the Bargello (the great sculpture museum in Florence) had shipped Verrocchio’s ORIGINAL statue all the way to America… right?!
WRONG.
This is it, the ACTUAL Verrocchio… I’ve seen it before when visiting Florence, but I was so stunned to see it standing in Washington, DC…
You see, I have a special relationship to this statue because this isn’t just ANY representation of David. No, this one holds a special place in the plot of my debut novel, Oil and Marble (about the rivalry between Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo).
Before Michelangelo carved his iconic marble David, two other ridiculously famous David statues already lived in Florence. One by Michelangelo’s hero, Donatello, and the other, THIS statue by Verrocchio.
This statue was standing in Florence when Michelangelo was conceiving of his own David. In my novel, I imagined Michelangelo standing in front of this statue, wondering how his version of David would ever compete with THIS masterpiece…
And, in my story, I imagined Michelangelo particularly angered by standing in front of this version of David because of who Verrocchio used as his model for the young shepherd boy…
You see, I have a particular fascination with Verrocchio because Leonardo da Vinci studied in Verrocchio’s workshop for nearly a decade. Leonardo helped the master create statues, achieve engineering feats, and paint.
(My favorite example of Leonardo’s work in a Verrocchio painting, Tobias and the Angel, was also featured at this exceptional DC exhibit. You can see Leonardo’s hand in the little dog to the lower left at the angel’s feet and in the fish dangling from Tobias’ hand.)
The young, handsome apprentice Leonardo was one of Verrocchio’s favorite models, too…
And when Verrocchio went looking around his studio for the face of his hero, David, who do you think he chose? That’s right, the innovative, clear-eyed, handsome Leonardo da Vinci.
I haven’t seen Verrocchio’s masterpiece since I wrote Oil and Marble; I haven’t had a chance to commune with the statue and that now-familiar face and spirit. So, yes, I’ll have to return to the exhibit once before I go, so I can fully appreciate the statue…
But I also want to return for another reason. Throughout the exhibit — in Verrocchio’s sculptures, paintings, drawings — you can feel the foundation of Leonardo. The way Verrocchio draws hair is the same way Leonardo draws hair; the way Vercocchio creates the curve of a mouth is the way Leonardo captures lips; the draperies, fingers, landscapes all have this distant echo of the rumblings of a growing Leonardo…
I felt Verrocchio in Leonardo, same as sometimes, I felt Verrocchio learning from his young apprentice, Leonardo.
The NGA moved their Leonardo masterpiece — the portrait of Ginevra de’Benci, the only Leonardo painting to reside in the US — into the exhibit room alongside the Verrocchios, and she felt at home here. Leonardo painted her soon after leaving Verrocchio’s workshop, and you can still feel Verrocchio in her — in her hair, her eyes, the landscape… soon Leonardo will take all of these traits and explode them into his own vision of art — pushing the darks darker and the landscapes mistier and the figures more soulful…
But it all started with Verrocchio. And this exhibit makes that foundation clear.
And, so, if you find yourself in Washington, DC, I highly recommend stopping by this exhibit, especially if you have an interest in the Italian Renaissance, sculpture, or Leonardo da Vinci.
But mainly, if nothing else, then to say hello to Leonardo as David and marvel that he has traveled all the way across oceans to see us.
Verrocchio: Sculptor and Painter of Renaissance Florence
National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC
On now through January 12, 2020
Admission is always free at the NGA