ABSTRACT
The medium of clay played a prominent role in the workshop of the innovative fifteenth-century Florentine artist, Andrea del Verrocchio (c. 1435–1488). In the hands of this Renaissance master, clay was used to create finished works in polychromed terracotta of remarkable depth and expressiveness. Modelling in clay was also a fundamental part of the design process in Verrocchio's workshop. This most humble material was shaped into three-dimensional models from which the master ultimately produced finished works in a variety of media. Verrocchio was one of the earliest artists to systematically use such models, and those that survive, provide a window into his practices.
