The Virgin with the laughing Child
Leonardo Da Vinci
circa 1465
Victoria and Albert Museum on loan to Palazzo Strozzi
Among the most venerable works of art owned by London’s Victoria and Albert Museum since 1858 is the “Virgin with the Laughing Child,” a terracotta sculpture, for too long, wrongly attributed to Antonio Rossellino, who was born Antonio Gamberelli, but famed and nicknamed for the color of his fiery hair. The statuette (circa 1465) is now regarded as, very likely, the only sculpture created by the revered painter, architect, inventor, and scientific scholar Leonardo Da Vinci.
“There is nothing comparable to this statue in the world,” esteemed La Stampa columnist Mario Calvo-Platero told a small gathering over coffee at the Italian Cultural Institute in Manhattan, honoring the work of the renowned director of Renaissance landmark Palazzo Strozzi in Florence, Arturo Galansino.
“Virgin with the Laughing Child” is displayed alongside exquisite draperies painted on linen by Da Vinci, highlighting remarkable stylistic similarities to the work of Andrea del Verrocchio (1435-1488) at Palazzo Strozzi, with an accompanying presentation at the Museo Nazionale del Bargello, through July 14.
Verrocchio was “considered too technical (for the time) and Leonardo (da Vinci) was born in Verrocchio‘s studio, and probably they were working together,” said Galansino. “He was too old to be a pupil.”
“This will probably be the most important exhibition dedicated to Verrocchio,” added Galansino.
Said Calvo-Platero: “This is something more than a general exhibition. It’s how a genius was born.”
Verrocchio ”defined taste,” and, before da Vinci, “the Medici family used him as an ambassador of their taste and ambition,” Calvo-Platero said.
The Medici, who amassed wealth as wool merchants and bankers, ruled Florence throughout the Renaissance, imparting a vital influence on the enhancement of the Italian Renaissance through their patronage of the arts and humanism.
Calvo-Platero introduced Galansino, who previously served as curator of exhibitions at the Royal Academy of Arts, London, and as assistant curator at Musée du Louvre, Paris, to the intimate breakfast forum as “a quintessential example of of a new generation of museum directors.”
“Verrocchio, Master of Leonardo” draws together masterpieces by Verrocchio from collections around the world, presented and analyzed alongside works from his forefathers and peers, as well as by the pupils he worked with resolutely, including da Vinci, Pietro Perugino, Domenico Ghirlandaio, and Sandro Botticelli. The exhibition conveys Verrocchio’s outstanding creativity as a solo artist, illustrating his workshop as a pivotal arena for collaboration, exchange, and co-working, where the language and the style of Renaissance art in Florence was born.
Previously a private home, the 16th Century Palazzo Strozzi offers historic context to the show, which encompasses master work from Florence between 1460 and 1490, including the wildly celebrated era of Lorenzo de’ Medici, often called Lorenzo the Magnificent by contemporary Florentines, because he was a magnate, diplomat, politician, and patron of scholars, artists, and poets.
Curated by two leading global authorities of 15th Century art, Francesco Caglioti and Andrea De Marchi, the exhibition showcases more than 120 paintings, sculptures, and drawings, with loans from more than 70 major museums and private collections throughout the world, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the National Gallery of Art, the Musée du Louvre, the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, the V&A, and the Uffizi Galleries in Florence.
“Verrocchio. Master of Leonardo” is one of a series of international events marking the 500th anniversary of the death of da Vinci, offering invaluable insight into the early influence of Florence and Verrocchio on his oeuvre.