"The Martyrdom of St. John the Baptist. A silver altar panel in high relief, attributed to Andrea del Verrocchio, in the Baptistery, Florence, 1478. 12 1/8" x 16 1/2", with the silver figures of the soldiers soldered to the plate,

Since not a single sculpture by Leonardo da Vinci seems to have survived, the claim by a respected Renaissance scholar that he has discovered two by him has caused quite a stir. The scholar is Gary Radke of Syracuse University, and the supposed Leonardo sculptures are two of the seven silver figures in this relief panel depicting the Martyrdom of John the Baptist on the altar in the Baptistery in Florence - all of which was until now assumed to be by Leonardo's master, Andrea del Verrocchio.

Though Leonardo was Verrocchio's prize pupil, surprisingly he was still working as an assistant in his studio in 1478, a decade after he began his apprenticeship there in 1468, at the age of eleven. So at 21 he was still not ready to strike out on his own, and perhaps the reason was that in Florence drawing and painting played second fiddle to sculpture and metalworking, viewed mainly as a preparation for carving and casting works of art?

At any rate, I leave it for you to try to guess which of the seven figures above might be regarded as "Leonardesque," in contrast to those by his "master," Verrocchio. When you've made your choices, then, and only then, can you look at Prof. Radke's choices and his arguments for them below. I think one of them is quite easy, at least for me, but I'll explain why later, lest I give away the game. Meanwhile, I'd like to focus on the meaning of this altarpiece.

The two figures in front in the center and on the left are pretty obvious. The nearly naked swordsman in the center who raises high his gilded sword is about to bring it down on the neck of John the Baptist, who kneels in prayer and holds, perhaps to his lips, not a cross (after all, the crucifixion of the man he baptized as the Messiah is yet to come) but, I would guess, an asperge, a vessel for dispensing or sprinkling baptismal water. But what's going on with the three soldiers behind him? The one on the right is watching the executioner preparing to strike, and he seems to flinch or back away as he awaits the fatal blow. As he does so, he grabs the arm of the soldier beside him; but that soldier is not watching the swordsman at all; his attention instead seems to be directed to John the Baptist, and his left arm and hand is extended toward the victim almost in an attitude of warding off the blow. But not quite. Nor does the arm which he seems to be extending, as if in a gesture of blessing, actually belong to him. If you look closely you'll see that the thumb on the upraised palm is on the left, so it belongs not to a right hand but to a left hand. And that left hand belongs to the other soldier beside him, the curly-headed soldier on his right, who holds in his right hand a plate - the silver platter on which the head of John the Baptist will be delivered to Salome, who ordered his beheading.

To the celebrants and attenders at the Mass, who will receive the body and blood of Christ from this altar and a similar plate, it also prefigures and symbolizes the Last Supper and Crucifixion of Jesus.. Is this soldier then acting like some angel or disciple of the Baptist and of Christ as he raises his hand, however unwittingly, in a gesture of holy blessing? It would not be too surprising, since the altar is in the Baptistery, named after John the Baptist, the patron saint of Florence, and just across the aisles from the baptismal font, where nearly everyone in Florence, including Dante and countless others after him, were baptized.

Look now at the pair of soldiers on the right. Doesn't the old fierce fellow with his back to us look as if he's about to unsheathe his sword and attack the soldier to his right? Why is he even looking so intensely at him rather than at the execution to his left? The soldier he is challenging so fiercely also has his hand upon his sword; but instead of threatening the other soldier, he raises his right hand upon his chest as if to protest, "No, not I. It is not for me to interfere here!" Is there a sense here that both the soldier with the platter on the left and the soldier on the right might be sympathizers, if not followers, of John the Baptist, and perhaps later of Jesus?

But enough of such speculation. Let's return now to the question, Which of the seven soldiers here may be from the hand of Leonardo rather than Verrocchio?.

Here, in a nutshell, is the argument of Prof. Radke for attributing two of the soldiers to Leonardo:


























For more details, including nearly full-size figures of the two soldiers attributed by Radke to Leonardo, see the article, "Looking for Leonardo" by Ann Landi in the October issue of the Smithsonian Magazine, You will look in vain, however, for any mention of the meaning of the scene.






You can see the actual sculpture at the exhibition, "Leonardo da Vinci: Hand of the Genius," curated by Professor Radke, at Atlanta's High Museum, for four months, starting October 6.