Bernardo Bellotto (Canaletto)

Bernardo Bellotto (Canaletto).........(1)
(Venice 1721 - Warsaw 1780)

Bellotto began his artistic career at the age of fifteen in the workshop of his uncle Antonio Canal and took over not only his speciality of veduta painting, but also largely his style and finally even his name Canaletto. Like his uncle, he also visited Rome and probably Tuscany. He worked in several regions of Italy, including Lombardy and Turin, before travelling to England in 1746. A year later he was welcomed in Dresden by Augustus the Strong. He carried out work for Maria Theresa and the Austrian nobility in Vienna, returning 1762 via Munich to Dresden where, after losing his position as court painter, he took a post as teacher of perspective painting at the Academy founded in 1764. Bellotto finally settled in Warsaw where he became court painter to Stanislaus II. The close connection between uncle and nephew makes it difficult to draw a clear line between Bellotto's early work and the late work of his teacher. A cooler palette and the even greater precision of his topographical views distinguish his independent work from that of Canal. His principal works, such as the 14 Dresden vedutas, or the view of Warsaw, make him the equal to his uncle. His topographical representations of the European royal capitals are also an important historical record on account of their exactitude and faithfulness.

Grand Canal, Looking North from the Palazzo Contarini Dagli Scrigni to the Palazzo Rezzonico

"View of Ujazdow and Lazienki Palace", 1776, oil on canvas, 146 x 243 cm, National Museum, Warsaw
"The Piazza San Marco, Venice", oil on canvas, 61 x 92.7 cm, private collection
"Grand Canal, Looking North from the Palazzo Contarini Dagli Scrigni to the Palazzo Rezzonico", oil on canvas, 61 x 92.7 cm, private collection

Venice, a View of the Entrance to the Grand Canal with the Church of Santa Maria della Salute

Venice, a View of the Church of San Giorgio Maggiore

"Panoramic View of a River Valley", mid-1740s, pen and brown ink, 20.2 x 44 cm, private collection
"Venice, a View of the Entrance to the Grand Canal with the Church of Santa Maria della Salute", oil on canvas, 34.2 x 49.5 cm, private collection
"Venice, a View of the Church of San Giorgio Maggiore", oil on canvas, 34.2 x 49.5 cm, private collection

"Miodowa Street in Warsaw", 1777, Royal Castle, Warsaw
"View of Warsaw from the Terrace of the Royal Castle in Warsaw", 1773, oil on canvas, National Museum, Warsaw
"View of Warsaw", 1770, Royal Castle, Warsaw

Artist’s paintings in: malarze.com

Artist biography at Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernardo_Bellotto

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