Having trained in Venice under his famous uncle, Canaletto, Bernardo Bellotto moved to Dresden in the 1740s to take up the position of court painter to August III, Elector of Saxony and King of Poland. There he completed a number of famous vedute of the city, and in around 1756 his patron commissioned him to produce a series of five views of the fortress of Königstein, 25 miles or so to the south-east. All five have been brought together for the first time since the 18th century in this focused display at the National Gallery (until 31 October), providing an unprecedented opportunity to appreciate Bellotto’s eye for both drama and for detail. Find out more from the National Gallery’s website – and for more on Bellotto’s years in Dresden, here’s an essay for Apollo by Alexander Röstel.
Preview below | View Apollo’s Art Diary here
The Fortress of Königstein from the North-West (1756–58), Bernardo Bellotto. Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
The Fortress of Königstein: Courtyard with the Brunnenhaus (1756–58), Bernardo Bellotto. Photo: © Manchester Art Gallery, UK/Bridgeman Images
The Fortress of Königstein from the North (1756–58), Bernardo Bellotto. © The National Gallery, London
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