There is a story that Verrocchio hung up his pallet after seeing how good one of the pupils in his workshop was at adding a cherub detail to one of his painting

There is a story that Verrocchio hung up his pallet after seeing how good one of the pupils in his workshop was at adding a cherub detail to one of his paintings. The pupil’s name was Leonardo. The story is likely apocryphal but to your point, the ‘factory’ model isn’t new to art.