Andrea del Verrocchio,
one of the greatest Renaissance artists and the master of
Leonardo and Perugino, will star in the first-ever monographic
exhibition in the United States, at the National Gallery of Art
(NGA) in Washington.
The exhibit will showcase some 50 masterworks including
paintings, sculptures and drawings.
It will run from September 15 through January 12.
The show - Verrocchio: Sculptor and Painter of Renaissance
Florence - has been organized in cooperation with the Fondazione
Strozzi and the Museo Nazionale del Bargello in Florence, which
hosted a larger version of the exhibit from March to July.
The show wraps up a season of exhibits at the NGA dedicated
to Italian art with three exhibits on Tintoretto and another one
on "chiaroscuro" in Renaissance Italy.
"This exhibit represents a further milestone in the
collaboration with the National Gallery of Art", said Italian
Ambassador to the US Armando Varricchio at the inauguration,
recalling that America was named after another Florentine,
explorer Amerigo Vespucci.
"A 'Renaissance man' in every way, Andrea del Verrocchio was
a pioneering, versatile artist whose talents stood out for their
brilliance", said Kaywin Feldman, director of the National
Gallery of Art.
"Verrocchio was a visionary", said Andrew Butterfield, the
exhibition curator and an internationally recognized expert on
the artist.
"His atelier was a real laboratory of collaboration and
experimentation, it was as big as the first room of this
exhibit: imagine Leonardo working in corner, and Perugino and
Botticelli in the others with Verrocchio at the center like an
orchestra director".
Two other Renaissance greats, Michelangelo and Raphael, also
studied under Verrocchio.
Many of the masterpieces on display will be visible to the
American public for the first time.
They include the famous bronzes of David with the head of
Goliath and the Putto with dolphin, the bust of the Woman with
flowers, paintings like the Madonna and child with two angels,
Tobias and the angel, as well as many of his 25 drawings - art
in which he introduced the 'sfumato' technique that became a key
component of Leonardo's work.
A room showcases artworks Verrocchio created with his pupils
or that they made on their own, including the Madonna with child
and two angels (probably painted with help from Leonardo and
Perugino) and the famous Ginevra de Benci, Leonardo's sole
masterpiece in the US.
The show includes a catalogue, a video (which was made thanks
to the Italian embassy in the US) and a selection of photos of
sculptures by the artist snapped by Clarence Kennedy.
The Italian embassy on Wednesday will host a symposium to
analyze the figure of this artist who excelled as a painter,
sculptor, designer and master, innovating techniques and
influencing future generations.
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