Cluster 2: The Verrocchio Laboratory (1466–1476)

Entering Verrocchio’s workshop in 1466, Leonardo worked in a multi-disciplinary hub where chemistry, metallurgy, and optics merged. His angel in The Baptism of Christ introduced oil techniques that signaled a paradigm shift in Renaissance representation.

2020 MA-XRF spectroscopy reveals his use of copper-based metalpoints and specific bone-ash preparations to achieve varying tonal depths. He applied optics from the cathedral’s bronze palla project to early theories on retinal imaging and the mathematical "no-slip" condition of light.

Workshop inventories; RCIN 912284 (Verso) optics studies; MA-XRF data (2020).

Analyze the chemical composition of the "white bone preparation" ground layer in early sketches.

Cathedral lantern mechanisms provided the engineering foundation for the Gran Cavallo casting.

Workshop entry; Superiority of oil technique; [Myth]: Verrocchio swearing never to paint again.