Colonel Piotr Königsfels teaching Prince Józef Poniatowski how to ride

Bernardo Bellotto's painting of Colonel Königsfels teaching Prince Józef Poniatowski to ride from 1773 belongs to his extensive documentary record of Warsaw, where he spent the last decade of his life as court painter to King Stanisław August Poniatowski. Bellotto's Warsaw views and genre scenes provide invaluable documentation of the city before its near-total destruction in World War II—his paintings were actually used as guides during the postwar reconstruction. Prince Poniatowski would later become one of Napoleon's most famous marshals.

Bellotto applies his characteristic precision to the equestrian subject, rendering the horses, figures, and landscape setting with the topographical exactitude he brought to his city views. His technique combines Canaletto's clarity with a cooler, more Northern European palette.