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拍品专文
Born in the Tuscan village of Pitigliano, Francesco Zuccarelli underwent his early training in Florence, possibly with Paolo Anesi, and then in Rome with Giovanni Maria Morandi, Pietro Nelli and perhaps Andrea Locatelli. In Rome he was able to absorb the great tradition of European landscape painting, from Claude through to the eighteenth century, and carry these lessons first back to Florence and then to Venice, where he settled in 1732. There he immediately succeeded as a painter of pastoral landscapes, enjoying the patronage of the most illustrious collectors of the time: Francesco Algarotti, Marshal Schulenburg and Joseph Smith, the latter playing a key role in the development of the artist’s career in Venice and abroad.
It was around the time of his meeting Smith that this picture was painted, signalling the start of a decade of rich success in the 1740s. Characteristic of his early maturity, this fine work embraces the Roman landscape tradition of his training, but picks out features typical of the countryside in the Veneto, with its trees and streams, stone bridges and villas. His landscapes proved remarkably popular with both Italian patrons and English visitors on the Grand Tour. On the back of his success, he travelled to England in 1752, where he found great fame, and would become a founder member of the Royal Academy in 1768.
It was around the time of his meeting Smith that this picture was painted, signalling the start of a decade of rich success in the 1740s. Characteristic of his early maturity, this fine work embraces the Roman landscape tradition of his training, but picks out features typical of the countryside in the Veneto, with its trees and streams, stone bridges and villas. His landscapes proved remarkably popular with both Italian patrons and English visitors on the Grand Tour. On the back of his success, he travelled to England in 1752, where he found great fame, and would become a founder member of the Royal Academy in 1768.