Brief Biography-Andrea del Verrocchio was a highly regarded sculptor and painter from Florence. He began training as a goldsmith under Giuliano Verrocchio, whom he named himself after. He studied sculpture under Antonio Rossellino and was tutored in painting under Fra Filippo Lippi alongside Sandro Botticelli. His patron in the arts was Piero d’ Medici, who took him on when Donatello, Florence’s top sculptor, died. Verrocchio spent his life in Florence except for his last few years in Venice.
Amongst his many students were Domenico Ghirlandaio, Lorenzo di Credi, Pietro Perugino and Leonardo da Vinci. He mainly concentrated on doing sculpture during the last decade of his life. Speculation has it that on realizing the genius of his pupil Leonardo da Vinci he gave up painting altogether. However, that story may have only slight truth as doing sculpture was his foremost passion. Also, the biographer Giorgio Vasari was sometimes known to exaggerate.