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Andrea del Verrocchio, The Baptism of Christ, c. 1472–75
John, lean and sinewy, pours water over the head of Christ, who stands in the stream with folded hands. Above them two hands open in the sky and send down the dove. On the bank two angels kneel with Christ's robe.
The picture comes from the workshop of Andrea del Verrocchio, where the young Leonardo was an apprentice. According to Vasari, Leonardo painted the angel at the far left, and Verrocchio, seeing himself surpassed, never touched a brush again. The story is a legend, but the angel and the hazy landscape behind it are in Leonardo's manner.
The left angel, turned away and looking back over his shoulder, is attributed to Leonardo.
The Father is shown only as a pair of hands.
