Giacomo Francesco Zuccarelli (commonly known as Francesco Zuccarelli) Italian was an Italian artist of the late Baroque or Rococo period. Francesco Zuccarelli began studying very early under a Florentine landscape painter and also probably trained under a landscapist in Rome. Settling in Venice around 1732, two years after Marco Ricci’s death, Zuccarelli became the city’s leading landscape painter. The praises of his contemporaries, as above, underscore his popularity in his own time. In his softly colored, gentle landscapes, Zuccarelli placed more importance on lyricism than on realistic details. His Arcadian scenes with picturesque peasants earned an international reputation. In his landscapes, as a pun, Zuccarelli often included a figure with a gourd bottle, for zucco is Italian for “gourd.” Thanks largely to Joseph Smith, Canaletto’s patron, Zuccarelli’s works developed a strong English market. Zuccarelli visited England from 1752 to 1762 and again from 1765 to 1771. He became a founding member and president of the Royal Academy and greatly influenced English landscape painting. Elected to the Venetian Academy in 1763, Zuccarelli became its president in 1772. He also worked in Paris and in the northern Italian town of Bergamo and spent his last years in Florence. Zuccarelli created innumerable drawings, some religious paintings, engravings, and tapestry designs.