The painter Lorenzo di Credi was born in Florence to a goldsmith. Together with Leonardo da Vinci, Pietro Perugino and Sandro Botticelli, he was first a pupil and then an employee of Andrea del Verrocchio. Lorenzo is first mentioned in the accounting documents from Verrocchio's studio in 1480, in which he is referred to as a poorly paid assistant. However, he already assumed the supervision of the workshop from 1482 to 1483, while his master carried out a commission in Venice. After Verrocchio's death in 1488, Lorenzo took over the workshop and continued to execute works in Verrocchio's style. He painted works in a conservative style for churches and monasteries until the 1520s, very much inspired by his master's œuvre. Most of his works are devotional paintings and altarpieces. Lorenzo was not a particularly original painter, but he was technically far ahead of many of his contemporaries: the surfaces of his paintings are so well finished that the pictures are usually much better preserved than those of his master or his peers. He was also a sought-after portraitist; among his best works are portrait studies executed in silverpoint. As a respected artist, Lorenzo was part of the commission that decided where Michelangelo's "David" should be placed in 1504.