Under which Florentine artist did Leonardo da Vinci apprentice?

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Under which Florentine artist did Leonardo da Vinci apprentice? Leonardo apprenticed under Andrea del Verrocchio. Verrocchio was a leading Florentine painter, sculptor, and goldsmith whose workshop trained several important Renaissance artists.

Leonardo likely entered Verrocchio’s workshop as a studio boy around age 14, after his family moved to Florence. By about age 17, he was formally recognized as an apprentice. His training extended beyond painting to drawing, sculpture, metalworking, mechanics, plaster casting, and other practical arts.

Verrocchio’s workshop was a busy creative center, and Leonardo encountered artists such as Perugino, Domenico Ghirlandaio, and Sandro Botticelli there or in its wider circle. Those names can therefore seem plausible, but they were not Leonardo’s master. Leonardo remained associated with Verrocchio’s workshop for roughly seven years and joined the painters’ guild in Florence in 1472.

A famous tradition says Leonardo may have painted an angel in Verrocchio’s Baptism of Christ, although the extent of his contribution remains debated. The episode illustrates how closely Leonardo’s early development was tied to Verrocchio’s studio.

Source: Wikipedia · fact-checked Aug. 2026

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