This beautiful Northern Italian landscape has the superb detail indicative of this period. The figures depict workers preparing to transport livestock down a winding river while two more elegantly dressed figures oversee the operation. Other figures and animals are in the distance with masterfully executed trees, clouds and blue sky overhead. The piece is appropriately framed in a
Carlo Maratta style frame finished in 22K gold leaf.
Zuccarelli was a Florentine landscape painter who worked principally in Venice and England. He met
Richard Wilson in Venice in 1751 and they exchanged paintings; in 1752 he went to London and remained until 1762. He returned to London in 1765 and stayed until 1771, being elected a Founder-Member of the
Royal Academy in 1768. His light and facile style of landscape painting, with picturesque peasantry, was very popular in England and was preferred to the graver style of Wilson. There are several examples in the
Royal Collection,
Windsor, and others in Cambridge
(Fitzwilliam Museum), Glasgow, London
(The National Gallery), Manchester, Oxford , Venice and elsewhere.
