Landscape with a fountain

This one comes down to us without a firm date, and little is documented about the canvas itself, so it is best taken as an example of the decorative landscapes Zais turned out through the middle of the 18th century. A fountain stands in a wooded park, the sort of stone waterwork found in the grounds of the mainland villas where Venetian families spent their summers away from the city. Canvases like this hung indoors as a mild echo of that garden world, something green and cool to rest the eye on once the season had ended. What the fountain marks, and the trees around it, is about as far as the record goes.