The Baptism of Christ
Andrea del Verrocchio (c. 1435–1488) · c. 1472–1475
Verrocchio's Christ and Baptist stand in a hard, sculptural light — but the kneeling angel at the far left, soft and alive, was painted by his young apprentice Leonardo.
Why it matters
A master and his student on one panel: the moment the future of painting becomes visible inside its present.
What to notice
Compare the angel at left with everything around it — Vasari claimed Verrocchio, seeing it, swore never to paint again.
Context
Painted for a Florentine monastery as a workshop collaboration, the normal practice of the age.
About the artist
Andrea del Verrocchio (c. 1435–1488). Sculptor, goldsmith and painter whose Florentine workshop trained a generation — including a left-handed apprentice named Leonardo.
Renaissance (c. 1400–1600): Born in the city-states of Italy, the Renaissance revived the learning of antiquity and placed the human figure — observed, measured, idealized — at the center of art. Painters mastered perspective, anatomy, and oil glazing, and the artist rose from anonymous craftsman to celebrated genius.
Walk the Grand Gallery → See this painting hung in its wing, with music and guided tours, in the full virtual museum.