Editing Francesco Zuccarelli (section)

==Twenty years in Venice (1732&ndash;52)==
[[Image:(Venice) Rape of Europa by Francesco Zuccarelli - Gallerie Accademia.jpg|right|thumb|upright=1.4|''The Rape of Europa.'' Mid&ndash;1740s. [[Gallerie dell'Accademia]], Venice.]]
In 1732, after a stay of several months in [[Bologna]], Zuccarelli relocated to [[Venice]].{{efn-ua|In Bologna, Zuccarelli published a book of prints dedicated to an unknown Florentine friend.{{sfn|Gabburri|1719–1741|p=1001 |ps=; cited in {{harvnb|Spadotto|2007|p=379}}.}} There is some disagreement about the timing and extent of Zuccarelli's movements from his Florentine period in the late 1720s to his arrival in Venice, which a few commentators date to 1730.{{sfn|Spadotto|2007|pp=12–15}}}}  Prior to his arrival in the [[Republic of Venice|Republic]], the death of [[Marco Ricci]] in 1730 had created an opening in the field of landscape painting amid a marketplace crowded with history painters.{{sfn|Spadotto|2007|pp=16–17}} While continuing to paint religious and mythological works, he increasingly devoted his attention to landscapes, drawing inspiration from the classicism of [[Claude Lorrain|Claude]] and the Roman school.{{sfn|Spadotto|2007|p=25}} His early paintings from the 1730s show briefly the influence of [[Alessandro Magnasco]], and for a longer period, of Ricci.{{sfn|Spadotto|2007|pp=16–17, 21, 100–106}} Zuccarelli brought a more mellow and airy palette to the typically Venetian colours, and using tonal values of higher luminous content than Ricci, the figures in his idyllic landscapes came to life.{{sfnm|1a1=Zampetti|1y=1971|1pp=109–110|2a1=Theodoli|2y=1995|2p=169}} An almost immediate success in Venice, he enjoyed early patronage, from amongst others, [[Johann Matthias von der Schulenburg]]; [[Joseph Smith (1682&ndash;1770)|Joseph (Consul) Smith]], who became his longtime patron; and [[Francesco Algarotti]]; who recommended him to [[Augustus III of Poland]].{{sfnm|1a1=Zampetti|1y=1971|1p=10|2a1=Theodoli|2y=1995|2p=169}} In 1735, Zuccarelli married Giustina Agata Simonetti in the church of [[Santa Maria Zobenigo]] in Venice, and they had four daughters, the first two dying as infants, followed by two sons.{{sfn|Spadotto|2007|pp=368–371}} He attended the baptism of the daughter of the painter [[Gaspare Diziani]] in 1743, and he often worked with other artists, including [[Bernardo Bellotto]] and [[Antonio Visentini]].{{sfnm|1a1=Theodoli|1y=1995|1p=169|2a1=Spadotto|2y=2007|2p=370}} Under the auspices of Consul Smith, during the mid&ndash;1740s he produced with Visentini a series featuring [[neo-Palladian]] architecture, as can be seen in ''Burlington House'' (1746).{{sfn|Levey|1964|pp=33, 104}} The most interesting of the Zuccarelli and Visentini collaborations was a set of 52 playing cards with Old Testament subjects published in Venice in 1748.  The hand-coloured scenes are treated in a light manner; the suits are circles, diamonds, hearts, and jars, each containing a mixture of inscribed emblems; and the cards begin with the creation of Adam and end with a battle scene that has an elephant carrying a castle.{{efn-ua|Succi published the entire set in 1986.  As written by Massar in 1998, before the museum's closure in 2001, the set formerly held in the collection of the [[United States Playing Card Company]], in Cincinnati, Ohio, was of particular interest because it contained Zuccarelli's original graphite drawings for the cards.  Massar noted that the drawings exemplified Zuccarelli's soft, feathery touch.{{sfnm|1a1=Hargrave|1y=1966|1pp=237, 242|2a1=Succi|2y=1986|2pp=298–303|3a1=Massar|3y=1998|3pp=262-263}}}} The outstanding achievement of his first Venetian period was a series of seven canvases, now located at [[Windsor Castle]],{{efn-ua|A letter from [[William Pitt the Younger|William Pitt]] to King George III, dated 27 December 1804, states that three of the paintings were moved from [[Hampton Court]] to [[Windsor Castle]] on the orders of His Majesty.{{sfn|Pitt|1967|p=268}} At a later date, ''Landscape with a Woman Wading in a Pond with Ducks'' was relocated from Windsor Castle to [[Buckingham Palace]].{{sfn|Levey|1964|p=106}}}} which according to a note in an 18th-century manuscript catalogue, represent the biblical characters of [[Rebecca]] with [[Jacob]] and [[Esau]].{{sfnm|1a1=Cust|1y=1913|1p=153|2a1=Knox|2y=1996|2p=37|3a1=Spadotto|3y=2007|3p=112}}{{efn-ua|[[Lionel Cust|Cust]], in his introduction to the Italian List, stated that internal evidence indicates the catalogue was prepared by Consul Smith.{{sfnm|1a1=Cust|1y=1913|1p=152|2a1=Smith (?)|2y=c. 1770|ps=, cited by {{harvnb|Cust|1913|pp=153–154, 161–162}}.}}}} The tall paintings are delicately painted and dream-like,{{sfn|Zampetti|1971|p=110}} and most likely were originally situated at Consul Smith's villa at [[Mogliano Veneto]].{{sfn|Knox|1996|pp=33-8}} He also occasionally created [[pastiche]]s of various 17th-century Dutch masters.{{efn-ua|Levey writes of three works showing a mid-17th century Dutch influence in the Royal Collection.  ''Landscape with a Wayside Tavern,'' (possibly a pastiche of [[Philips Wouwerman|Wouvermans]]), Hampton Court;  ''Landscape with Ruins and Beggar,'' (a more obvious pastiche of [[Berchem]]), Windsor Castle; and ''Landscape with a Sleeping Child and a Woman Milking a Cow,'' noted in the Italian List{{sfn|Cust|1913|p=153}} as being a pendant to a work formerly attributed to [[Rembrandt]], and "in his stile [''sic'']," at Holyroodhouse.{{sfn|Levey|1964|p=107}}}}

In the years 1748 to 1751, Zuccarelli made frequent trips to [[Bergamo]], invited by his friend [[Francesco Maria Tassi]].{{sfn|Spadotto|2016|p=28}} Through Tassi, he met [[Cesare Femi]], a student of the portrait painter [[Fra Galgario]], and under his influence he realized three portraits now held at the [[Accademia Carrara di Belle Arti di Bergamo|Accademia Carrara]].{{sfn|Spadotto|2007|pp=32-33, 134}}

Around this time, Zuccarelli's paint handling became more responsive to mood, utilizing bright colours that demonstrate a vibrant quality even though thinly laid on.{{sfn|Zampetti|1971|p=110}} The artist [[Richard Wilson (painter)|Richard Wilson]] painted a portrait of Zuccarelli in 1751 at Venice, and Zuccarelli was influential in redirecting Wilson away from portraits and towards landscape painting. During the following year, Zuccarelli discussed the techniques of [[Italian Renaissance painting|Italian Renaissance painters]] with [[Joshua Reynolds]], with Zuccarelli expressing the opinion that [[Paolo Veronese]] and [[Tintoretto]] painted on gesso grounds, while [[Titian]] did not.<ref>Levey, April 1959, pp. 139-140.</ref>