Little Canaletto’s sordid city in the sky – Bellotto: The Königstein Views Reunited review

Jonathon Jones | The Guardian | 21st July 2021

Frederick Augustus, ruler of Saxony, commissioned Bellotto to paint five large studies of his massive hilltop fortress. Reunited in London for the first time since they were painted, these works are an impressive vanity project. More than that though, Bellotto used these landscapes to express a new idea – the power of nature. With their panoramic views and sharp contrast of light and shadow, they are “the first true stirrings of Romantic storminess.”