View of Pirna with the Fortress of Sonnenstein
Bernardo Bellotto·c. 1760
Historical Context
Bellotto's View of Pirna with the Fortress of Sonnenstein from around 1760 depicts the Saxon town on the Elbe that Bellotto painted repeatedly during his years at the Dresden court of Augustus III. Bellotto had been trained by his uncle Canaletto in Venice and absorbed his approach to the painted veduta — the precise topographical view that combined architectural documentation with atmospheric painting — before establishing his own practice at European courts. His Dresden-period paintings of Saxon towns, particularly Pirna and Königstein, are among his most original works, translating the Venetian veduta tradition to northern European landscapes with atmospheric effects quite different from Venetian light.
Technical Analysis
Bellotto's oil on canvas demonstrates his characteristic precision in architectural rendering with crisp, clear light and meticulous attention to topographical detail, combined with the atmospheric effects that distinguish his work from his uncle Canaletto's sunnier Venetian views.
Provenance
Oliver Latham (d. 1850?), sold Christie's London, April 13, 1850, lot 27, to Mr. Hoare for 16 gns. William Lygon, 7th Earl Beauchamp, London (died 1936) [according to archival photograph and stockbook of Arthur Tooth and Sons; information kindly provided by Simon Matthews]. Arthur Tooth, London, 1939; sold to Karl Haberstock, Berlin, April 1, 1939 [according to Tooth stockbook cited above and Ein- und Verkaufsbuch for July 1936 - December 1939 preserved in the Haberstock Stiftung, Augsburg, copy in curatorial file; the pair of paintings are also documented in the Warenkontrollbücher of 1939, 1940, and 1941; in the last book it is listed as on deposit in the Dresdener Bank, Tegernsee]; consigned by Haberstock to Julius Böhler, Munich in 1950, [letter of January 29, 2001 from Jutte Fianke, Böhler]; sold by Böhler to E. and A. Silberman, New York, in January 1951 [according to the letter from Jutta Fianke cited above]. Arthur C. Tate, New Canaan, CT, 1957 [according to Hartford 1957 exhib. cat.]. E. and A. Silberman Galleries, New York, by 1960 [advertised in Burlington Magazine, December 1960]; sold to the Art Institute, 1961.
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