Bellotto: The Koenigstein Views Reunited by Letizia Treves


Bellotto: The Koenigstein Views Reunited
Title : Bellotto: The Koenigstein Views Reunited
Author :
Rating :
ISBN : 1857096746
ISBN-10 : 9781857096743
Language : English
Format Type : Paperback
Number of Pages : 88
Publication : Published October 26, 2021

Catalogue exploring the five spectacular views of the Fortress of Königstein in Dresden by Venetian painter Bernardo Bellotto, nephew and pupil of Canaletto

Bernardo Bellotto (1722–1780) ranks amongst the very greatest view painters of eighteenth-century Europe. Today, he is best known for his views of northern European large-scale works characterised by panoramic compositions, a strongly contrasted use of light and shadow, and meticulous attention to architectural detail.
 
This book provides an overview of Bellotto’s life and career, as well as a record of the historic reuniting of his five spectacular views of the fortress of Königstein, displayed together for the first time in over 250 years, following the National Gallery’s recent acquisition of The Fortress of Königstein from the North in 2017. Commissioned by August III, Elector of Saxony and King of Poland, these works depicting the fortress from different viewpoints are undoubtedly Bellotto’s finest non‑urban paintings. These remarkable pictures are imbued with a monumentality rarely seen at this time and the series dramatically illustrates the very different direction in which Bellotto took the tradition of European view painting.

Published by National Gallery Company/Distributed by Yale University Press

Exhibition The National Gallery, London
(July 22–October 31, 2021)
  Manchester Art Gallery
(November 20, 2021–February 27, 2022)