Brief Biography-Andrea del Verrocchio was a highly regarded sculptor and painter from Florence. He began training as a goldsmith under Giuliano Verrocchio, after whom he named himself. 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 de’ 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.
He mainly concentrated on sculptures during the last decade of his life. Speculation has it that he gave up painting altogether on realising the genius of his pupil Leonardo da Vinci. 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. Some of his many renowned students were Domenico Ghirlandaio, Lorenzo di Credi and Pietro Perugino, and Leonardo da Vinci.