Giuseppe Zais, 'Landscape with a Group of Figures Fishing', probably 1770-80

A lady dressed in colourful clothes and holding a fishing rod gazes merrily out of the picture. She is accompanied by a woman with a net and a man who picks up a basket of fish. Other men and women gather beside the meandering river, some casting and reeling in their fishing lines. In the distance, two shepherds and their sheep cross the shallow water and head towards a small group of people and animals in front of a small hamlet. A curved tree to the right and a steeply winding path on the left frame the scene.

Guiseppe Zais spent most of his career in Venice and is best known for his depictions of rural landscapes, the details of which are painted using thickly applied paint and bold colouring. Landscape with a Group of Figures, the companion to this picture, is also in the National Gallery’s collection.