Exhibition of the week: Bernardo Bellotto’s The Königstein Views Reunited

This small, free exhibition at the National Gallery should not be missed

Bernardo Bellotto The Fortress of Königstein from the North-West (1756-8)
The Fortress of Königstein from the North-West (1756-8): a ‘towering’ series of works
(Image credit: nationalgallery.org.uk)

Of all the many castles in Saxony, the medieval fortress of Königstein is by some distance “the most impressive”, said Lucy Davies in The Daily Telegraph. Perched on an imposing hilltop, it towers 800 metres over the Elbe River and dominates the landscape for miles around. “This is why, in 1756, Frederick Augustus II, Elector of Saxony and one of Europe’s most powerful rulers, commissioned the greatest view-painter of his day to record its splendour for all the world to see.”

Bernardo Bellotto (1722–1780), nephew of the much more famous Canaletto, had already spent a decade as a court artist to Frederick-Augustus, painting remarkable urban landscapes of his magnificent capital, Dresden. It took him two years and five canvases, each one studying the citadel from a different perspective, to capture the fortress to his satisfaction. Ironically, by the time Bellotto was “applying his final touches” to the series, hostile Prussian forces had crushed Saxony’s armies and were laying siege to Dresden. Frederick-Augustus, who had initially taken refuge in the Königstein itself, had to flee to his lands in Poland.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up