Two capricci landscapes: A man and a woman by a stream with a farmhouse in the background (i); Farmers and cattle by a river (ii)

Nephew of the painter Sebastiano Ricci, Marco Ricci probably started his career in his uncle’s workshop in Venice. It has been suggested that he may have learned painting in tempera on kidskin in England during a stay with his uncle around 1712-1716. Scenes of everyday life in the countryside, with farmers and shepherds looking after their livestock, are common in Ricci’s work. He treated similar subjects not only in gouaches, but also in some his etchings (see D. Succi and A. Delneri et al., Marco Ricci e il paesaggio veneto del Settecento, exhib. cat., Belluno, Palazzo Crepadonna, 1993, p. 327, no. 26).