At Rome, and later in Venice, he became famous as one of the best landscape painters of the classicizing 18th century. Having visited England on a previous occasion, he was induced by some patrons to return thither in 1752, remaining until 1773, when he settled in Florence, dying there in 1788.
Zuccarelli, who was one of the foundation members of the Royal Academy, enjoyed the patronage of royalty and of many wealthy English collectors, for whom he executed his principal works-generally landscapes with classic ruins and small figures.
His work was very unequal, but at his best he rivals the leading landscape painters of his time. His paintings often bear a mark representing a pumpkin, a pictorial representation of bis name, which signifies little pumpkin.