Portrait of her husband, the painter Antonio Zucchi

Portrait of her husband, the painter Antonio Zucchi from 1781, now of unknown location, is an intimate personal document from the year of Kauffmann's marriage to the Venetian decorative painter Antonio Zucchi. Kauffmann had suffered a traumatic first marriage to a man who proved to be an impostor, claiming to be a Swedish nobleman, and her marriage to Zucchi in 1781 — which coincided with her return to Rome — represented a new beginning both personally and professionally. Zucchi had been her collaborator and companion during her London years, contributing decorative architectural elements and ornamental details to projects in which Kauffmann provided the figure painting. Their marriage was a professional partnership as much as a personal union, and Kauffmann's portrait of her new husband reflects both the warmth of the relationship and the natural interest of one artist in another. The portrait shows her refined oil technique applied to an intimate rather than official subject, with the natural lighting and direct characterization that she reserved for sitters she knew personally and painted with genuine affection. Zucchi died in 1795, and Kauffmann spent the final twelve years of her life as a widow in Rome.

The portrait shows Kauffmann's warm, personal approach to intimate portraiture, with natural lighting and direct characterization that reveal genuine affection for the subject.