A village fête

Dating to the beginning of the 1780s, this canvas was executed several years after Zuccarelli’s return from England, during his fruitful retirement in Florence. The energy of the dense and richly textured brushwork conveys the speed of the artist’s hand, and reveals a painter still wholly confident in his mastery of his art. The influence of Northern landscape painting which materialized in the artist’s later oeuvre is evident here above all in the setting, while the marquee bears a notable affinity with that of the Refreshment during the ride, The Fitzwilliam, Cambridge (inv. 198) painted around 10 years earlier. The exceptionally animated stances of the characters invites comparison with another work of the artist’s late maturity, the celebrated Banchetto in villa, in the Fondo per l’ambiente italiano, Milan (inv. C135).