VERRI, BIAGIO. - Apostolic missionary, born at Barni, in Vallassina, on 2 October 1819, died at Turin on 26 October 1884, associated with the Work for the Redemption of African Child Slaves alongside Don Niccolò Olivieri.
The latter, born at Voltaggio (Genoa) on 21 February 1792, was a great-nephew of St. G. B. De Rossi (q.v.); esteemed director of the Refuge for Penitent Women in Genoa, in 1838 he began to extend his activity to the redemption of Moorish girls. He purchased them in Egyptian markets and placed them for their education in numerous religious institutes across Europe. The initiative, begun without a prearranged plan, within a few years evolved into a wisely organized activity that took the name of the Work for the Redemption. The Work absorbed nearly all of Olivieri’s activity, so much so that in 1848 he resigned from his office and dedicated himself entirely to II. In August 1850, he met Don B. V. in Milan, who, fully grasping the importance of the Work, became its promoter for the collection of necessary funds. Later, he felt the desire for a more direct and complete collaboration. In 1857, wishing to discern God’s will regarding himself, he undertook Ignatian spiritual exercises at the Jesuit House in Verderio (Milan); he then went to Turin to consult Don Bosco, whom he had known for several years. On 9 December, he left Milan for Egypt in the company of Don Olivieri. That was the first of many arduous and perilous journeys. He purchased Moorish girls and brought them to Europe, placing them in institutes and collecting the substantial sums indispensable for the Work. At his suggestion, the Franciscan Missionaries of Egypt founded the College of Moorish Girls in Cairo, which proved a valuable aid to the Redemption Work. On 25 October 1864, Don Olivieri died. Don V. continued alone the immense task of Redemption. Contrary to the advice of many, he refused to build houses, both because many institutes already provided for the education of Moorish girls and because the era of the confiscation of religious property was then underway. Moreover, he did not wish to spend on real estate sums that could instead be used to redeem more girls. In Naples, he formed a friendship with the Venerable Ludovico da Casoria, who founded the College of Moorish Boys to prepare them for the priesthood, in keeping with his famous saying: “Africa must save Africa!” In 1884, he died at the Cottolengo in Turin. Three years later, his remains were triumphantly transferred to Barni. His cause of beatification is underway. The fruits of the tireless activity of the two missionaries were considerable. Of the many Moorish girls redeemed, the majority achieved excellent outcomes both in the world and in the cloister. Some rose to high degrees of sanctity.
VERROCCHIO, ANDREA di MICHELE di FRANCESCO de' CIONI, called il Verrocchio. - Painter, sculptor, and goldsmith, born in Florence in 1436 and died in Venice on 7 October 1488.
He was called Verrocchio because, as a youth, he worked in the workshop of the goldsmith Giuliano Verrocchi.
A pupil of Alessio Baldovinetti, he was influenced by Pesellino and later by his collaborators, Ghirlandaio and Perugino (Brenson). As a sculptor, according to tradition, he derived from Donatello, but there is no connection between the two artists other than an external one. The fact that Verrocchio may have completed the Lavabo left unfinished by Donatello in the sacristy of San Lorenzo and took his place with the Medici has only historical significance.
He is undoubtedly closer to Ghiberti and Desiderio da Settignano. On the other hand, the definition of his formation and the attribution of his own works remain an open question, despite the numerous studies devoted to him by critics. The definition of a leading personality such as his is complicated by the proximity of Leonardo, who in 1470, at the age of seventeen, entered Verrocchio’s workshop precisely when the latter, who was primarily a sculptor, turned to painting; until that time, documents refer to him as “scalpellatore,” goldsmith, carver. The earliest tradition speaks of a collaboration by the young Leonardo on the famous painting of the *Baptism of Christ* for the church of San Salvi, now in the Uffizi, and even today critics disagree on the extent of this collaboration. Among his other paintings, mention may be made of a *Madonna and Child* in the Kaiser Friedrich Museum in Berlin, dating after the *Baptism*, and the altarpiece in the cathedral of Pistoia, a work of the school largely painted by Lorenzo di Credi.
His first work in sculpture dates to 1467, when Verrocchio began the group with *Christ and St. Thomas* in the tabernacle of the Mercanzia (executed by Donatello in Orsanmichele); this work was completed in 1483. From 1472 is the tomb of Piero de’ Medici in the sacristy of San Lorenzo, of refined chromatic elegance, admired even in his own time (Vasari). Also from that year is probably the bronze *David* (now in the National Museum), ceded to the Signoria in 1476 by Lorenzo and Giuliano de’ Medici to be placed in the Palazzo Vecchio, where instead, to adorn the courtyard fountain, the *Putto with a Fish* is now found, executed shortly after 1469 for the villa at Careggi.
In 1477, Verrocchio worked on the tomb of Francesca Pitti Tornabuoni, of which two bas-reliefs remain that adorned the front of the sarcophagus (Florence, National Museum) and four *Virtues* (Paris, J. André collection); singular works for their sincere and passionate adherence to reality, expressed outside classical canons, with a new intensity. The *Decapitation of the Baptist* for the altarpiece of the Florence Baptistery dates to 1480. The National Museum in Florence preserves: the *Madonna of Santa Maria Novella* (terracotta), another *Madonna* in marble; the bust of the Lady known as *delle mammole*, attributed by many to Leonardo, especially for the sensitive, beautiful hands.
After 1477, Verrocchio began work on the monument to Cardinal Forteguerri in Pistoia, later interrupted when the Republic of Venice commissioned him to execute the monument to Colleoni. In 1481, Verrocchio traveled to Venice carrying the clay model of the horse, which he destroyed in anger upon learning that the Serenissima had decreed that Bellano should execute the figure of the condottiero. But in 1485, he resumed work in Venice, entrusting all his interests in Florence to his pupil Lorenzo di Credi. When he died, the Republic entrusted Alessandro Leopardi with the task of casting the work. Leopardi, an expert bronze founder with strong tendencies toward decoration—
