View of Pirna in Saxony
Bernardo Bellotto·c. 1751
Historical Context
View of Pirna in Saxony from around 1751 belongs to an extensive series of views Bellotto painted of this small Saxon town near Dresden. Commissioned by Augustus III, Elector of Saxony, the Pirna series is one of the most thorough visual surveys of a German town in the eighteenth century. Bellotto arrived in Dresden in 1747, working for Elector Frederick Augustus II, and produced eighteen monumental views establishing his reputation independent of his uncle Canaletto. His Dresden canvases fea...
Technical Analysis
The town's architecture and natural setting are rendered with crystalline precision, the Saxon landscape bathed in the cool, clear light that characterizes Bellotto's northern European views.
