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Bernardo Bellotto | |
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 Detail ofSelf-portrait as Venetian ambassador (c. 1765) | |
| Born | 30 January 1721 |
| Died | 17 November 1780 (aged 59) |
| Resting place | Capuchin Church, Warsaw, Poland |
| Known for | Landscape painting |
| Patrons | Stanislaus II Augustus |
Bernardo Bellotto (c. 1721/1722[1][2] or 30 January 1721[3] – 17 November 1780),[3] was anItalian[4] urbanlandscapepainter orvedutista, andprintmaker inetching famous for hisvedute of European cities –Dresden,Vienna,Turin, andWarsaw. He was the student and nephew of the renowned Giovanni Antonio Canal, known asCanaletto, and sometimes used the latter's illustrious name, signing himself as Bernardo Canaletto.[3] In Germany and Poland, Bellotto called himself by his uncle's name, Canaletto. This caused some confusion, however Bellotto's work is more sombre in color than Canaletto's and his depiction of clouds and shadows brings him closer to Dutch painting.[5]
Bellotto's style was characterized by elaborate representation of architectural and natural vistas, and by the specific quality of each place's lighting. It is plausible that Bellotto, and other Venetian masters ofvedute, may have used thecamera obscura in order to achieve superior precision of urban views.[2]
Bellotto was born inVenice, the son of Lorenzo Antonio Bellotto and Fiorenza Canal, sister of the famous Canaletto, and studied in his uncle's workshop.[1]
In 1742 he moved toRome, where he producedvedute of that city. In 1744 and 1745 he traveled northern Italy, again depictingvedute of each city. Among others, he worked forCharles Emmanuel III ofSavoy.[1]
From 1747 to 1758 he moved toDresden,[3] following an invitation from KingAugustus III of Poland. He created paintings of the cities Dresden andPirna and their surroundings.[1] Today these paintings preserve a memory of Dresden's former beauty, which was destroyed bybombing during World War II.[citation needed]
His international reputation grew, and in 1758 he accepted an invitation from EmpressMaria Theresa to come toVienna,[1] where he painted views of the city's monuments.[citation needed]
In 1761 Bellotto left Vienna forMunich, where he spent almost a year. In a letter to her cousinDuchess Maria Antonia of Bavaria, Empress Maria Theresia had praised Bellotto's artistic achievements at the Viennese court. Logically, he was commissioned works by the ruling family ofBavaria. He painted a panoramic view of Munich and two vedute ofNymphenburg Palace forMaximilian III Joseph, Elector of Bavaria.[7] At the end of 1761, Bellotto returned to Dresden.[citation needed]
When King Augustus III of Poland, alsoElector of Saxony, who usually lived in Dresden, died in 1763, Bellotto's work became less important in Dresden. As a consequence, he left Dresden to seek employment inSaint Petersburg at the court ofCatherine the Great. On his way to Saint Petersburg, however, Bellotto accepted an invitation in 1764 from Poland's newly elected KingStanisław August Poniatowski to become his court painter inWarsaw from 1768.[8]
Here he remained some 16 years, for the rest of his life, as court painter to the King, for whom he painted numerous views of the Polish capital and its environs for theRoyal Castle in Warsaw, complement of the great historical paintings commissioned by Poniatowski fromMarcello Bacciarelli. His initial commissions included painted decoration of theUjazdów Castle between 1767 and 1770, of which a study of illusionistic vault is the only preserved example of profuse decoration lost in 1784 during the reconstruction of the castle into military barracks.[8]
In 1769 the painter and his son Lorenzo (1744–1770) accomplished another large royal commission – fourteen views of Rome, ancient and papal, based on the collection of etchings byGiovanni Battista Piranesi entitledVedute di Roma.[8] The collection was dispersed in the early nineteenth century and today various paintings can be admired in different museums in Russia –The Roman Forum as seen from the Capitol to the south-east andPiazza della Rotonda with Pantheon (Pushkin Museum, Moscow),View of the Piazza Navona (Nizhny Novgorod State Art Museum),View of S. Maria Maggiore (Far Eastern Art Museum, Khabarovsk) and in private collections.[8]
His paintings of Warsaw, 26 vedute painted between 1770 and 1780 to embellish the so-calledPanorama Room (laterCanaletto Room) at the Royal Castle in Warsaw and later relocated to Russia, wererestored to the Polish Government in 1921[9] and were used in rebuilding the city after itsnear-complete destruction by German troops during World War II.[3]
Bellotto's early work bears strong features of his uncle's style, becoming more individual and distinguished in later years with clear inspiration ofDutch landscape painting with massed clouds, cast shadows and rich foliage.[3] His colouring is colder and characterized by a steely grey.[3]
The last period of the artist's work is assessed as distinct from the earlier stages with emphasis on the immediacy of observation, striving for a generic treatment of staffage,[8] ability to capture the atmosphere of the place[1] and visible transformation of his painting which become more colorful with warmer tones.[8] For the first time he also undertook historical subjects includingThe Election of Stanisław August (1778) for the King andEntry of Jerzy Ossoliński into Rome in 1633 (1779) commissioned byJózef Maksymilian Ossoliński.[8] Bellotto created a school of painting which was later continued and developed byZygmunt Vogel andMarcin Zaleski.[8]
Bernardo Bellotto died in Warsaw in 1780 and was buried in Capuchin Church atMiodowa Street.[8]
His younger brother was named Pietro Bellotto (1725 – c. 1805) and after collaborating with Canaletto and his brother, moved to France, where he was known asle Sieur Canalety andPietro Bellotti di Caneletty. The brother was also referred to asBelloti,Belloty,Beloty, orBellottit.[citation needed]
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