Fritjof Capra by The Science of Leonardo: Inside the Mind of the Great Genius of the Renaissance Page B

same roof as the master and ate at his table), would be working away at different tasks. 11

    The
bottega
of a master like Verrocchio would produce not only paintings and sculptures but also a vast variety of objects—pieces of armor, church bells, candelabras, decorated wooden chests, coats of arms, models for architectural projects, and banners for festivities as well as sets and scenery for theatrical performances. The works leaving the
bottega
(even those of the highest quality) were rarely signed and usually produced by the master with a team of assistants.
    Leonardo spent the next twelve years in this creative environment, during which he diligently followed the rigorous course of a traditional apprenticeship. 12 He would have drawn on tablets and familiarized himself with the artists’ materials, which could not be bought ready-made but had to be prepared in the workshop. Pigments had to be freshly ground and mixed every day; he would have learned to make paintbrushes, prepare glazes, apply gold to backgrounds, and finally, after several years, to paint. In addition, he would have absorbed considerable technical knowledge by watching the master work on a variety of projects. Over the years, as he honed his skills by imitating his elders, he and the other apprentices would have increasingly participated in the
bottega
’s production until he was finally designated a master craftsman and accepted into the appropriate association, or guild, of craftsmen.
    In Verrocchio’s workshop, Leonardo was introduced not only to a wide variety of artistic and technical skills, but also to many exciting new ideas. The
bottega
was a place where lively discussions of the latest events took place daily. Music was played in the evenings; the master’s friends and fellow artists dropped by to exchange plans, sketches, and technical innovations; traveling writers and philosophers visited when they passed through the city. Many of the leading artists of the time were drawn to Verrocchio’s
bottega
. Botticelli, Perugino, and Ghirlandaio all spent time there after they were already accomplished masters to learn novel techniques and discuss new ideas.
    The Florentine
bottega
of the fifteenth century fostered a unique synthesis of art, technology, and science, which found its highest expression in Leonardo’s mature work. As historian of science Domenico Laurenza points out, this synthesis lasted for just a hundred years: by the end of the sixteenth century, it had dissolved. 13 For Leonardo’s own artistic and intellectual development, the years he spent in Verrocchio’s workshop were decisive. His way of working and his entire approach to art and science were shaped significantly by his long immersion in that workshop culture.
    One important influence on Leonardo’s future work habits was the use of a
libro di bottega
(“workbook”), which all apprentices had to keep. 14 It was a journal in which they recorded technical instructions or procedures, personal reflections, solutions to problems, and drawings and diagrams of their ideas. Continuously updated, annotated, and corrected, the
libro di bottega
provided a daily record of the activities in the workshop. Its composite character of accumulated notes and drawings, without any particular organization, is recognizable in many pages of Leonardo’s Notebooks.
    Shortly after Leonardo began his apprenticeship, Verrocchio received a commission for his biggest and most spectacular engineering project yet—the construction of a gilded copper ball, 2.5 meters in diameter, or roughly seven feet, to be placed together with a cross on top of the marble lantern of Brunelleschi’s dome. The famous architect had died before being able to crown his masterpiece, but had left detailed plans for the lantern and copper ball, which Verrocchio was charged to execute. The project took three years, and the young Leonardo was able to observe every stage of it, and likely contributed to it as well.