DOI chapter:
Chapter III: Earliest Works
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.62110#0084
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VERROCCHIO
and writhing movement of the snake. A suggestion of
most of the external characteristics of Leonardo’s work is
to be found in that of his master, but the original idea is
so transfigured in the alembic of his vivid imagination that
it becomes his own creation.
The resemblance in brushwork and colour of the whole
painting, as well as in the construction and actual features
of the faces, to the Angels of the Baptism, leaves no
doubt but that they must have been executed at about the
same date. The arrangement of the draperies, the peculiar
contrast of heavy shadows and bright lights, the very
pigments used, are identical. What the date may be can
be gathered only by the increase of facility over the early
work of the Baptism, which points to the lapse of several
years at least. In the construction of the body of the
Virgin and her tupright attitude there is a lingering
reminiscence of Antonio Pollaiuolo. The beauty of the
hands and their structural resemblance to that of the full-
face Angel of the Baptism should be noticed.
Although the picture lacks the supreme distinction of
Leonardo’s work, it is yet one of the most beautiful
paintings of the Renaissance for the dignity and charm of
the figures, and even more for the poetic suggestion of the
landscape, with its successful rendering of an atmospheric
effect. It seems the twilight hour, the moment so brief in
Italy between daylight and darkness, in which the cypresses
stand out black masses against the pale sky, losing all but
the outline of their form. This seizure of a transient
effect is characteristic of Verrocchio, and we shall find it
over and over again in studying his works. The landscape
is essentially Florentine, in spite of the distant sea and port.
Often at the hour of nightfall, so well indicated in this
VERROCCHIO
and writhing movement of the snake. A suggestion of
most of the external characteristics of Leonardo’s work is
to be found in that of his master, but the original idea is
so transfigured in the alembic of his vivid imagination that
it becomes his own creation.
The resemblance in brushwork and colour of the whole
painting, as well as in the construction and actual features
of the faces, to the Angels of the Baptism, leaves no
doubt but that they must have been executed at about the
same date. The arrangement of the draperies, the peculiar
contrast of heavy shadows and bright lights, the very
pigments used, are identical. What the date may be can
be gathered only by the increase of facility over the early
work of the Baptism, which points to the lapse of several
years at least. In the construction of the body of the
Virgin and her tupright attitude there is a lingering
reminiscence of Antonio Pollaiuolo. The beauty of the
hands and their structural resemblance to that of the full-
face Angel of the Baptism should be noticed.
Although the picture lacks the supreme distinction of
Leonardo’s work, it is yet one of the most beautiful
paintings of the Renaissance for the dignity and charm of
the figures, and even more for the poetic suggestion of the
landscape, with its successful rendering of an atmospheric
effect. It seems the twilight hour, the moment so brief in
Italy between daylight and darkness, in which the cypresses
stand out black masses against the pale sky, losing all but
the outline of their form. This seizure of a transient
effect is characteristic of Verrocchio, and we shall find it
over and over again in studying his works. The landscape
is essentially Florentine, in spite of the distant sea and port.
Often at the hour of nightfall, so well indicated in this