Fluvial landscape with a rustic village, washerwomen, and herds

Francesco Zuccarelli (Pitigliano, 1702 – Florence, 1788) This pleasant river landscape, enlivened by charming vignettes, is the work of Francesco Zuccarelli (Pitigliano, 1702 – Florence, 1788), the artist who was one of the leading interpreters of Arcadian and pastoral landscape painting in 18th-century Europe. In the painting, characterized by an airy vision of an idealized nature, the influence of Marco Ricci's art, with which Zuccarelli became familiar in Florence around the late 1720s, is evident in the motifs of leafy trees and the broad, expansive landscape that perfectly balances the composition with its gently receding planes. Zuccarelli uses his usual iconographic repertoire of washerwomen and shepherds softly posed on the bank of a clear stream. Leafy trees, rendered with airy brushstrokes, frame the rustic scene, while a small village with an ancient bell tower and gentle mountains are lightly outlined in the background under a bright sky, transitioning from pearly grey to blue, streaked with light, rosy clouds. Oil on canvas, 40.5 x 54 cm - Expertise: Prof. Dario Succi