The historian, linguist and poet Zanetti understood the Latin and Greek languages, and made translations from French to Latin. He worked as an archaeologist and won two prizes at the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres. He wrote the libretto Sofonisba for Niccolò Jommelli. He was also a professor of law at the University of Padua after it was restructured; Zanetti lived there until his death.