It was probably at Verrocchio’s instigation that Leonardo first went to the hospitals of Florence to study the anatomy of corpses, for he is known to have emphasised the importance of studying surface musculature. Leonardo certainly learnt from this, as early studies of the draperies that were to take on such life in his future compositions such as the National’s The Virgin of the Rocks make plain. Was it in an attempt to match and surpass this that Leonardo first left tempera for oil, recognising the sensuous possibilities of shading (rather than cross-hatching), which this — then — new medium offered, the brilliance that its precious pigments could bring out? As the subtle modelling of the flesh that lends life to an expression is revealed in this Verrocchio, do we see the inspiration for that delicate shimmery touch that Leonardo was to perfect?

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