Vaprio d’Adda (1744)

Bellotto, Bernardo (1721–1780)

Vaprio d’Adda
1744
Oil on canvas, 64.1 x 99.7 cm
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

By carefully staging the sunlight hitting the facades rising above the Adda River, Bellotto picks out the north Italian villages of Canonica d’Adda at the right and Vaprio at the center. In the foreground, well-heeled figures provide stand-ins for viewers of the painting, gesturing with interest to the picturesque view. On related drawings Bellotto noted that he made this painting and its pendant (now in the Museo di Capodimonte, Naples) in 1744 for Count Simonetta in Milan. (MET)

See also:

• Vaprio d’Adda (Italia)