Francesco Zuccarelli
Encyclopedia
Francesco Zuccarelli was an Italian
Rococo
painter
.
He was born at Pitigliano
, in southern Tuscany
, where he initially apprenticed with Paolo Anesi
. He then worked in Rome with Pietro Nelli
and perhaps Andrea Locatelli
.
After a stay of at least three years in Florence
, in 1732 he moved to Venice, where he enjoyed the patronage of, among others, Marshal Schulenburg
, Consul Smith
, and Francesco Algarotti
, who recommended him to the Elector of Saxony, Augustus III of Poland
. Zuccarelli excelled as a landscape painter, with small figures reminiscent of Claude
; his range also included religious and mythological works. The Tuscan introduced a more mellow and airy palette to the typically Venetian colours, and his earliest known paintings from Venice reveal the influence of Alessandro Magnasco
, and more lastingly, of Marco Ricci
. He often collaborated with other artists, including Bernardo Bellotto
and Antonio Visentini
; in the mid-1740s, under the auspices of Consul Smith
, he produced with Visentini
a notable series featuring neo-Palladian architecture, as can be seen in their oil painting, Capriccio with a View of Burlington House, London (1746, The Royal Collection).
Francesco travelled to England to 1752, where his decorative talent resulted in diverse work, including the design of tapestries. Sometime around 1760 he turned to Shakespeare
, depicting a scene from Macbeth
where Macbeth and Banquo encounter the witches, one of the first eighteenth-century painters to portray this kind of subject. In 1762 he held a sale of his paintings at Prestage and Hobbs in London before his departure for Italy. In the same year, King George III acquired twenty-five of Zuccarelli's paintings through the purchase of much of Consul Smith's
extensive art collection and library in Venice. Zuccarelli was induced to journey back to London in 1765 by his friend Algarotti's
bequest of a cameo and group of drawings made to Lord Chatham
. On this second visit he was lauded by the English nobility and critics alike, and invited to exhibit at leading art societies; moreover, King George III is said to have commissioned the large canvas, River Landscape with the Finding of Moses (1768), now at Windsor Castle
. Francesco Zuccarelli was a founding member, in 1768, of the Royal Academy of Arts, and on his return to Italy in 1771 he was elected President of the Venetian Academy. He finally settled in Florence, where he died in 1788.
His paintings often bear a mark representing a pumpkin
, a pictorial representation of his name, which signifies little pumpkin.
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
Rococo
Rococo
Rococo , also referred to as "Late Baroque", is an 18th-century style which developed as Baroque artists gave up their symmetry and became increasingly ornate, florid, and playful...
painter
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
.
He was born at Pitigliano
Pitigliano
Pitigliano is an Italian town and comune of province of Grosseto in the Maremma area of Tuscany. The town stands on an abrupt tuff butte high above the Olpeta, the Fiora and the Lente rivers.-History:...
, in southern Tuscany
Tuscany
Tuscany is a region in Italy. It has an area of about 23,000 square kilometres and a population of about 3.75 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence ....
, where he initially apprenticed with Paolo Anesi
Paolo Anesi
Paolo Anesi was an Italian painter of the 18th century, active mainly in painting capriccios and landscapes in the style of Paolo Pannini. Born in Florence.He trained with Giuseppe Bartolomeo Chiari and one of his pupils was Francesco Zuccarelli....
. He then worked in Rome with Pietro Nelli
Pietro Nelli
Pietro Nelli was an Italian painter of the late-Baroque period.He was born in Massa, where he had been a pupil of Giovanni Maria Morandi in Rome...
and perhaps Andrea Locatelli
Andrea Locatelli
Andrea Locatelli was an Italian painter of landscapes .Born in Rome, he was the son and pupil of the painter Piero Locatelli, who had studied with the Florentine Ciro Ferri...
.
After a stay of at least three years in Florence
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
, in 1732 he moved to Venice, where he enjoyed the patronage of, among others, Marshal Schulenburg
Johann Matthias von der Schulenburg
Reichsfreiherr and Reichsgraf Marshal Johann Matthias von der Schulenburg was a distinguished aristocrat and general of Brandenburg-Prussian descent who served in the Saxon and Venetian armies in the early eighteenth century and found a second career in retirement in Venice, as a grand...
, Consul Smith
Joseph Smith (1682–1770)
Joseph Smith , the British consul at Venice, 1744–1760, was a patron of artists, most notably Canaletto, and a collector and connoisseur, banker to the British community at Venice and a major draw on the British Grand Tour...
, and Francesco Algarotti
Francesco Algarotti
Count Francesco Algarotti was an Italian philosopher and art critic.He also completed engravings.He was born in Venice to a rich merchant. He studied at Rome for a year, and then Bologna, he studied natural sciences and mathematics...
, who recommended him to the Elector of Saxony, Augustus III of Poland
Augustus III of Poland
Augustus III, known as the Saxon ; ; also Prince-elector Friedrich August II was the Elector of Saxony in 1733-1763, as Frederick Augustus II , King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania in 1734-1763.-Biography:Augustus was the only legitimate son of Augustus II the Strong, Imperial Prince-Elector...
. Zuccarelli excelled as a landscape painter, with small figures reminiscent of Claude
Claude Lorrain
Claude Lorrain, , traditionally just Claude in English Claude Lorrain, , traditionally just Claude in English (also Claude Gellée, his real name, or in French Claude Gellée, , dit le Lorrain) Claude Lorrain, , traditionally just Claude in English (also Claude Gellée, his real name, or in French...
; his range also included religious and mythological works. The Tuscan introduced a more mellow and airy palette to the typically Venetian colours, and his earliest known paintings from Venice reveal the influence of Alessandro Magnasco
Alessandro Magnasco
Alessandro Magnasco , also known as il Lissandrino, was an Italian late-Baroque painter active mostly in Milan and Genoa...
, and more lastingly, of Marco Ricci
Marco Ricci
Marco Ricci was an Italian painter of the Baroque period. He was the nephew of Sebastiano Ricci. After receiving his first instruction in art from his uncle, he visited Rome, where he was for some years occupied in drawing vedute....
. He often collaborated with other artists, including Bernardo Bellotto
Bernardo Bellotto
Bernardo Bellotto was a Venitian urban landscape painter or vedutista, and printmaker in etching famous for his vedutes of European cities . He was the pupil and nephew of Canaletto and sometimes used the latter's illustrious name, signing himself as Bernardo Canaletto...
and Antonio Visentini
Antonio Visentini
thumb|220px|View of Piazza San Marco in Venice, by Antonio Visentini .Antonio Visentini was an Italian architectural designer, painter and engraver, known for his architectural fantasies and capricci, the author of treatises on perspective and professor at the Venetian Academy...
; in the mid-1740s, under the auspices of Consul Smith
Joseph Smith (1682–1770)
Joseph Smith , the British consul at Venice, 1744–1760, was a patron of artists, most notably Canaletto, and a collector and connoisseur, banker to the British community at Venice and a major draw on the British Grand Tour...
, he produced with Visentini
Antonio Visentini
thumb|220px|View of Piazza San Marco in Venice, by Antonio Visentini .Antonio Visentini was an Italian architectural designer, painter and engraver, known for his architectural fantasies and capricci, the author of treatises on perspective and professor at the Venetian Academy...
a notable series featuring neo-Palladian architecture, as can be seen in their oil painting, Capriccio with a View of Burlington House, London (1746, The Royal Collection).
Francesco travelled to England to 1752, where his decorative talent resulted in diverse work, including the design of tapestries. Sometime around 1760 he turned to Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
, depicting a scene from Macbeth
Macbeth
The Tragedy of Macbeth is a play by William Shakespeare about a regicide and its aftermath. It is Shakespeare's shortest tragedy and is believed to have been written sometime between 1603 and 1607...
where Macbeth and Banquo encounter the witches, one of the first eighteenth-century painters to portray this kind of subject. In 1762 he held a sale of his paintings at Prestage and Hobbs in London before his departure for Italy. In the same year, King George III acquired twenty-five of Zuccarelli's paintings through the purchase of much of Consul Smith's
Joseph Smith
Joseph Smith was founder of what later became known as the Latter Day Saint movement or Mormons.Joseph Smith may also refer to:-Latter Day Saints:* Joseph Smith, Sr. , father of Joseph Smith...
extensive art collection and library in Venice. Zuccarelli was induced to journey back to London in 1765 by his friend Algarotti's
Francesco Algarotti
Count Francesco Algarotti was an Italian philosopher and art critic.He also completed engravings.He was born in Venice to a rich merchant. He studied at Rome for a year, and then Bologna, he studied natural sciences and mathematics...
bequest of a cameo and group of drawings made to Lord Chatham
William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham
William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham PC was a British Whig statesman who led Britain during the Seven Years' War...
. On this second visit he was lauded by the English nobility and critics alike, and invited to exhibit at leading art societies; moreover, King George III is said to have commissioned the large canvas, River Landscape with the Finding of Moses (1768), now at Windsor Castle
Windsor Castle
Windsor Castle is a medieval castle and royal residence in Windsor in the English county of Berkshire, notable for its long association with the British royal family and its architecture. The original castle was built after the Norman invasion by William the Conqueror. Since the time of Henry I it...
. Francesco Zuccarelli was a founding member, in 1768, of the Royal Academy of Arts, and on his return to Italy in 1771 he was elected President of the Venetian Academy. He finally settled in Florence, where he died in 1788.
His paintings often bear a mark representing a pumpkin
Pumpkin
A pumpkin is a gourd-like squash of the genus Cucurbita and the family Cucurbitaceae . It commonly refers to cultivars of any one of the species Cucurbita pepo, Cucurbita mixta, Cucurbita maxima, and Cucurbita moschata, and is native to North America...
, a pictorial representation of his name, which signifies little pumpkin.
External links
- "Francesco Zuccarelli (1702-88)" 14 works, The Royal Collection, e-gallery.
- "Francesco Zuccarelli (Italian Rococo Era Painter, 1702-1788)" Artcyclopedia
- "Francisco Zuccarelli, R.A." in Nollekens and His Times: Comprehending a Life of That Celebrated Sculptor; and Memoirs of Several Contemporary Artists, from the Time Of Roubiliac, Hogarth, and Reynolds, to that of Fuseli, Flaxman, and Blake. John Thomas SmithJohn Thomas Smith (1766–1833)John Thomas Smith also known as Antiquity Smith was a painter, engraver and antiquarian. He wrote a life of the sculptor Joseph Nollekens that was noted for its "malicious candour" and was a keeper of prints for the British Museum....
Keeper of the Prints and Drawings in the British Museum. Edited and annotated by Wilfred Whitten. Vol II. London: Henry Colburn, 1829. - "Francis Zuccarelli, R.A." in Anecdotes of painters who have resided or been born in England : with critical remarks on their productions; by Edward Edwards, deceased, late teacher of perspective, and associate, in the Royal Academy; intended as a continuation to The anecdotes of painting by the late Horace Earl of Orford. Edward Edwards. London : printed by Luke Hansard & Sons, for Leigh and Sotheby, W.J. and J. Richardson, R. Faulder, T. Payne, and J. White, 1808.