Luigi Zuccoli (1815-76) was appointed a member of the Brera Academy in Milan. He lived in England from 1860 until 1865, and exhibited at the Royal Academy from 1864 to 1871. He became well known for his genre paintings of Italian life, represented in Milan by three works at the Pinacoteca di Brera. His Card Players is in the collection of the National Museums, Liverpool.

A traditional Italian Easter ritual is the blessing of the Paschal Lamb, derived from the Old Testament story of the Passover and symbolising Christ's sacrifice of the New Testament, but also feeding the family. In a cottage interior, a family have gathered around a table on which the body of a sacrificial lamb has been laid on a cloth strewn with flowers; a priest, aided by a choirboy, intones a blessing on the lamb.