The Sculptures of Andrea del Verrocchio.

Andrew Butterfield, New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1998.60 color pls.+ 200 b/w illus. + 288 pp. $65. ISBN: 0-300-07194-9.

Andrew Butterfield's book provides a long-needed authoritative reevaluation of Verrocchio's sculptures. It is composed of seven chapters on Verrocchio's major commissions, a brief appendix on his drawings and paintings, and a catalogue raisonne of the sculptures by Verrocchio and his workshop, followed by a section on "sculptures of uncertain authorship." In recent years scholars have fretted about whether the traditional monograph represents an outmoded format; Butterfield proves emphatically that it does not. His lean and cogent chapters provide readable accounts of the genesis, creation, and meaning of Verrocchio's sculptures. Readers of all backgrounds can readily follow Butterfield's arguments, which are closely correlated to the magnificent black and white and color photographs, many of them taken during and after recent restorations of the sculptures. He convincingly supports his conclusions with specific stylistic and documentary analysis of the sculptures and a broad expertise in Roman and Renaissance art and literature. Even the scholarly apparatus of the catalogue raisonne and its account of the sculptures' condition, history, and bibliography is crisply enough written not to discourage non-specialists.

Verrocchio is the most important Florentine sculptor of the late fifteenth century, and arguably the major sculptor anywhere in Europe at that time. As the creator of the equestrian monument to Colleoni in Venice and the Christ and Doubting Thomas at Orsanmichele, he was as highly esteemed by his contemporaries as he is today. Despite the reciprocal relationships between fifteenth-century painting and sculpture, Verrocchio was unusual in that he actively pursued careers in both. His sculptural production is for the most part well-documented, but no autograph extant painting by Verrocchio is, even though many paintings are attributed to his active and influential workshop. Ironically, Verrocchio trained no artist who concentrated on sculpture; however, painters like Perugino, Lorenzo di Credi, Signorelli, and Ghirlandaio, all dominant figures in late fifteenth-century Italian painting, were his students. Despite their fame, his best-known pupil was without a doubt Leonardo da Vinci, who learned both painting and sculpture from Verrocchio during the extended period he was associated with the workshop (c. 1469-1478). The problematic picture of Verrocchio's relationship with the painters he trained, especially Leonardo, has impeded a clear assessment of Verrocchio's position in fifteenth-century Italian art. Scholars have generally tried to consider Verrocchio's paintings and sculpture together and to discern the participation of Leonardo in various commissions. Butterfield takes the position that theirs was most likely a relationship of mutual admiration and avoids the conundrum by restricting his analysis to Verrocchio's sculptures.

Butterfield reaches several general conclusions that reconfigure understanding of Verrocchio. He repeatedly demonstrates Verrocchio's awareness of Greco-Roman literary and artistic models (e.g., the influence of Callistratus's ekphrasis about Praxiteles's Eros on the Putto with a Dolphin, Palazzo Vecchio, Florence). He emphasizes Verrocchio's sensitive exploration of human emotions and psychology, concerns more usually associated with the painting and theoretical writings of his pupil Leonardo.

He adds to Verrocchio's oeuvre a Pugilist statuette in the Bargello, Florence (previously attributed to Donatello by Pope-Hennessy). This convincing reattribution means that Verrocchio played a previously unsuspected role in the revival of the bronze statuette. Butterfield supports the attribution, originally made by Pope-Hennessy, of the marble bust of Francesco Sassetti (Bargello, Florence) to Verrocchio. This male portrait joins the two female busts attributed to Verrocchio, the Lady with Flowers (Bargello, Florence) and the unidentified Young Woman (Frick Collection, New York) and affirms his importance as a portraitist. There is insufficient space here to itemize Butterfield's contributions. He provides a wealth of new information and insights about the physical characteristics and historical context of Verrocchio's sculptures, transforming previous assessments of Verrocchio's career.

SARAH BLAKE MCHAM Rutgers University, New Brunswick