one of the external niches of Or San Michele (Florence). He received 800 florins for these two figures, which are more remarkable for the excellence of their technique than for their sculpturesque beauty. The attitudes are rather rigid and the faces hard in expression. Verrocchio’s chief masterpiece was the colossal bronze equestrian statue of the Venetian general Bartolommeo Colleoni, which stands in the piazza of SS. Giovanni e Paolo at Venice. Verrocchio received the order for this statue in 1479, but had only completed the model when he died in 1488.
Clay sketch for the monument of Cardinal Forteguerra, showing
the kneeling portrait of the cardinal, which is not in the actual
monument; a very poor modern figure occupies its place.
In spite of his request that the casting should be entrusted to his pupil Lorenzo di Credi, the work was given to Alessandro Leopardi by the Venetian senate, and the statue was gilt and unveiled in 1496.[1] There appears to be no doubt that the model was completed by Verrocchio himself, and that nothing more than its reproduction in bronze should be attributed to the much feebler hand of Leopardi, who, however, has set his own name alone on the belly-band of the horse—ALEXANDER-LEOPARDVS V. F. OPUS. This is perhaps the noblest equestrian statue in the world, being in some respects superior to the antique bronze of Marcus Aurelius in Rome and to that of Gattamelata at Padua by Donatello. The horse is designed with wonderful nobility and spirit, and the easy pose of the great general, combining perfect balance with absolute ease and security in the saddle, is a marvel of sculpturesque ability. Most remarkable skill is shown by the way in which Verrocchio has exaggerated the strongly marked features of the general, so that nothing of its powerful effect is lost by the lofty position of the head. According to Vasari, Verrocchio was one of the first sculptors who made a practical use of casts from living and dead subjects. He is said also to have produced plastic works in terra-cotta, wood and in wax decorated with colour. As a sculptor his chief pupil was Francesco di Simone, the son of that Simone whom Vasari wrongly calls a brother of Donatello. Another pupil was Agnolo di Polo (Paolo), who worked chiefly in terra-cotta.
Verrocchio died in Venice in 1488, and was buried in the church of St Ambrogio in Florence.
See also Hans Mackowsky, “Verrocchio . . . Mit 80 Abbildungen” (1901), Künster Monographien, No. 52. (J. H. M.)
VERSAILLES, a town of northern France, capital of the department of Seine-et-Oise, 12 m. by road W.S.W. of Paris, with which it is connected by rail and tram. Pop. (1906) town, 45,246; commune, 54.1820. Versailles owes its existence to the palace built by Louis XIV. It stands 460 ft. above the sea, and its fresh healthy air and nearness to the capital attract many residents. The three avenues of St Cloud, Paris and Sceaux converge in the Place d’Armes. Between them stand the former stables of the palace, now occupied by the artillery and engineers. To the south lies the quarter of Satory, the oldest part of Versailles, with the cathedral of St Louis, and to the north the new quarter, with the church of Notre Dame. To the west a gilded iron gate and a stone balustrade shut off the great court of the palace from the Place d’Armes. In this court, which slopes upwards from the gate, stand statues of Richelieu, Conde, Du Guesclin and other famous Frenchmen. At the highest point there is an equestrian statue in bronze of Louis XIV., and to the right and left of this stretch the long wings of the palace, while behind it extend the Cour Royale and the smaller Cour de Marbre, to the north, south and west of which rise the central buildings. The buildings clustered round the Cour de Marbre, which include the apartments of Louis XIV., project into the gardens on the west considerably beyond the rest of the facade. To the north the Chapel Court and to the south the Princes Court, with vaulted passages leading to the gardens, separate the side from the central buildings. On the other is the inscription, “A toutes les gloires de la France,” which Louis Philippe justified by forming a collection of works of art (valued at £1,000,000), commemorating the great events and persons of French history. The palace chapel (1696–1710), the roof of which can be seen from afar rising above the rest of the building, was the last work of J. Hardouin-Mansart.
- ↑ See Gay, Cart. inéd. i. p. 367.
