The Ruins of the Pirnaischer Suburb with the Palais Fürstenhof
Bernardo Bellotto (Italian, 1721-1780)
1766
- Medium
- Etching with engraving in black on ivory laid paper
- Classification
- Dimensions
- Image: 46.8 × 63 cm (18 7/16 × 24 13/16 in.); Image platemark: 52.7 × 63.7 cm (20 3/4 × 25 1/8 in.); Text platemark: 54.2 × 64.7 cm (21 3/8 × 25 1/2 in.); Sheet: 64 × 77.2 cm (25 1/4 × 30 7/16 in.)
- Culture
- Italy
- Museum
- Art Institute of Chicago, Prints and Drawings
- Credit line
- The Amanda S. Johnson and Marion J. Livingston Fund
- Rights
- Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
- Who can see it
- Kids profiles and older: it shows nature, places, still life or a children's book. How works are placed
View at the Art Institute of Chicago
About this work
Known for his majestic urban landscapes, the Venetian born Bernardo Bellotto apprenticed with the famed Canaletto, his uncle. In 1747 Augustus III, king of Poland and elector of Saxony, invited Bellotto to Dresden, where his career quickly took off. Bellotto’s 37 paintings depicting the architecture of the city were part of Augustus’s plan to make Dresden into one of the major capitals of Europe. When the Prussians invaded on the brink of the Seven Years’ War, Bellotto sought refuge and new work in Vienna. Upon returning in 1761, Bellotto found Dresden, its suburbs, and his home destroyed. This print documents his beloved city ruined by war.
Description © Art Institute of Chicago, CC BY 4.0
