for Talk Verrocchio
The image to be shown at the start of the article
VivaItalia has removed the painting of Tobias and the Angel and has substituted the Baptism of Christ, explaining that this was Verrocchio's masterpiece painting. In fact the Baptism derives its fame principally from the fact that part of it was painted by Leonardo da Vinci, then an apprentice in Verrocchio's workshop. This does not seem a strong reason for placing it at the head of an article on Verrocchio. It may for that reason be his best known painting but it is hardly his masterpiece. I had shown the Tobias and the Angel, because it is to my mind such an attractive picture, but I would agree that it hardly ranks as a great masterpiece. Also, Lorenzo di Credi is thought to possibly have had a hand in painting it.
The Baptism was previously placed at the side of a paragraph explaining Leonardo's part in the painting, which is a logical place for it and enables the reader to see immediately the painting to which the paragraph refers. VivaItalia has now put the Tobias picture there, where it does not belong, though It could properly go at the side of the preceding paragraph.
Verrocchio is more important as a sculptor than as a painter and it would be more appropriate to select a work of sculpture to introduce the article. I did not want to use the condottiere Bartolomeo Colleoni (although probably his best known work) because it is the subject of a separate section and needs to be illustrated there. A good choice would be the Putto with a Dolphin, which is both well known and very attractive, but I have not been able to find a photograph which shows it clearly (the photo now shown in the gallery in the article is too dark). Another good choice would be the David in the Bargello, but no sufficiently good photo seems to be available. Bronze sculpture is hard to photograph well and most of the best photos are protected by copyright.
I suggest that the best available picture is the St Thomas, now shown in the gallery later in the article, which is universally accepted as a masterpiece (see Covi pp.71-87). The photo is only a detail, not showing the whole sculpture, but includes the major part of the work and is a good clear image.