Bellotto, Bernardo (1721-1780)
La fortezza di Königstein vista da Nord (The Fortress of Königstein from the North)
1756–1758
Oil on canvas, 132.1 × 236.2 cm
National Gallery, London
Sharp and angular, the Saxon fortress of Königstein, about 25 miles southeast of Dresden, is silhouetted against a pale sky. The artist, Bellotto, was from Venice, and he has applied the traditions of Venetian view painting – a high level of detail, the large scale – to this northern landscape. It is one of the five views of Königstein commissioned from Bellotto by King Augustus III of Poland in 1756.
Bellotto has treated the crumbling stone walls with miniaturist precision: each window and scaffolding pole is highlighted, and soldiers, created with just a few dots of paint, stand guard on the ramparts. This minute observation is combined with a broad panorama. Soft sunlight picks out the men in a grassy glade and a woman with her children while, a little higher, a slice of intense light illuminates the livestock perched on a craggy ledge and a horseman descending into the valley beyond. (NG)
See also:
• Königstein Fortress (Germany)