Bernardo Bellotto (Canaletto), View of Warsaw, 1771

Bernardo Belotto (Canaletto) (1720-1780)
Prospectus of the square in front of the XX Bernardine Church in Warsaw, taken from above the Krakow Gate
Vue de la place des bernardins a Varsovie : prise de dessus la Porte de Cracovie
Vario engraving, 50 × 62,5
Warsaw, 1771

Condition: after restoration. Bernardo Bellotto (1722-1780) was an Italian painter and printmaker, one of the most prominent masters of the 18th-century veduta (cityscape) genre. Originally from Venice, he continued his career in various European countries, including Germany, Austria and especially Poland.
His work in Poland was particularly significant, where he was invited to the court of King Stanislaw August Poniatowski in 1767. In Warsaw, Bellotto became a royal painter and created an exceptional series of images of the city, the Veduty Warszawy (Veduty Warszawy), which today are not only valued as works of art, but also have historical significance, as they contributed to the reconstruction of Warsaw's Old Town after World War II.
He died in Warsaw in 1780, leaving a large and important artistic legacy.