Warsaw Vedutismo Gallery

After reading my earlier blog on Canaletto and the Venutian Vedutisti and his paintings hanging at the Ufizzi, my Mom noted that Canaletto also painted views of Warsaw. It looks as if there may have been two Canalettos: Giovanni Antonio Canal (Canaletto) and Bernardo Bellotto, who used the name Canaletto professionally, as it says on the Info Poland page at the State University of New York (SUNY) Buffalo:

Bernardo Bellotto, born in Venice in 1722, became the court painter of Poland's last King, Stanislaw August Poniatowski in 1768. As a young man, he had been an apprentice of his uncle Giovanni Antonio Canal, and, like his uncle, used professionally the name Caneletto; for many years this was the name by which he remained known in Poland. Canvases with views of Warsaw, which he was commissioned to paint by the King, were used to decorate a room in the Royal Castle, in the process the chamber becoming known as the Canaletto Room. His renderings of Warsaw view were so extremely accurate that in 1946-47 paintings were used as blueprints in the reconstruction of edifices that were destroyed during the WWII conflict.

The book I have on Canaletto may have more info on the name, I'll have to read up on who Bellotto was. It may also have pictures of these paintings as well, I'll have to check. I vaguely remember the Canaletto Room in the Royal Castle; Corey might have taken some pictures but I now don't recall. Some of them can be found on the web, e.g., on the Wikimedia Commons, an excellent resource for images and artwork. Below is a gallery of four such images that I found this morning and I present them here as a mini gallery of Warsaw Vedutismo.

Bernardo Bellotto, View of Warsaw from Praga, 1770, Warsaw, Royal Castle. Bernardo Bellotto, View of Warsaw from the Terrace of the Royal Castle, 1773, Warsaw, The National Museum. Bernardo Bellotto, Miodowa Street in Warsaw, 1777, Warsaw, Royal Castle.

One grand painting I do remember from our visit to Warsaw last year that I would say is done in a similar realist painting style is of course Matejko's Battle of Gurnwald. I don't think my gallery would be complete without this addition, so here it is, for "completeness". This painting, btw, is simply massive (something like 32′×13′): if you ever get a chance to see it in person, it should make a lasting impression.

Jan Matejko, Battle of Grunwald, 1878, Warsaw, The National Museum.