AFTER VERROCHIO, 19TH CENTURY

The celebrated equestrian monument of Colleoni in the Campo SS. Giovanni e Paolo, Venice, was the result of a competition announced in 1479. Before his death, the mercenary Bartolommeo Colleoni of Bergamo, left funds in his will for an equestrian monument for himself. Andrea del Verrocchio (1435-1488, Florence) submitted his model of the Condottiere Bartolommeo Colleoni to the Venetian judges in 1481 and he then travelled to Venice to create the full-size models. The models were completed some time between 1483 and artist's death in 1488. However, the actual casting of the group was left to be executed by Alessandro Leopardi, who had competed unsuccessfully for the commission several years previously.

Verrocchio's fame is based on his very popular sculptures, like the Colleoni monument and the Doubting Thomas, as well as the fact that he was Leonardo da Vinci's tutor. (Bernard Ceysson e.a., Sculpture, Cologne, 1996, p.53)