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Gary M. Radke, a professor at Syracuse University and curator of the exhibition “Leonardo da Vinci: Hand of the Genius,” which opens at Atlanta’s High Museum of Art in the fall, believes that Verrocchio had help from assistants when he made the panel “Beheading of the Baptist” (1480) for the silver altar in the Florence Baptistery. After studying the panel, Radke came to the conclusion that da Vinci, who is known to have assisted the older artist in the 1470s, created two of seven figures in the work.

Since the seven figures were each created individually and then inserted with pins into the final piece, Radke could examine them one by one. Two, he decided, stood out from the rest for their greater level of detail, which heightened the impression of three-dimensionality.

“Verrocchio had a talent for observing nature, and these observations were more generalized in his work,” Radke said. “Leonardo, however, wasn’t content until every bone and every vein is seen on every figure.”

The panel, which is now in the Cathedral Museum in Florence, will be included in the Atlanta show, with detailed photographs and illustrations arguing Radke’s case.

As to whether other scholars agree with his discovery, he said, “No one has disputed that these two figures are different. It’s really how to interpret them.”