Artwork
The Fortress of Königstein: Courtyard with the Magdalenenburg
The Fortress of Königstein: Courtyard with the Magdalenenburg is an oil painting by the Rococo painting artist Bernardo Bellotto. It dates from 1757 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.
- Inscription
- Inscribed:lower right: 740.; across bottom of stretcher reverse: Prospect der Vestüng Königstein von Oben. Bernard Bellotto dit Canaletto Pintx. 1764.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
Bellotto’s rendering emphasizes the architectural scale and orderly arrangement of the fortress, capturing the disciplined symmetry of the Baroque-era complex.
The work depicts the courtyard of the Königstein Fortress, a prominent military stronghold near Dresden, with the Magdalenenburg pavilion at its center. Bellotto’s rendering emphasizes the architectural scale and orderly arrangement of the fortress, capturing the disciplined symmetry of the Baroque-era complex.
The Magdalenenburg, a small building within the fortress, is shown in a prominent position, likely alluding to its original function as a retreat or place of leisure for the Saxon court. The scene conveys the dual character of the fortress, both as a symbol of military power and as a site of aristocratic retreat, reflecting the political and cultural ambitions of August III of Saxony, under whose reign the fortress was expanded.
Technique & Style
The Fortress of Königstein: Courtyard with the Magdalenenburg is executed in oil on canvas, a medium characteristic of Bernardo Bellotto's vedute practice. The painting measures 48.3 cm in height by 78.7 cm in width, adopting a horizontal format suited to the broad architectural sweep of the Saxon fortress courtyard.
Bellotto's handling reflects the precise topographical tradition inherited from his uncle Canaletto, employing carefully calibrated perspective to render the receding planes of the Magdalenenburg and surrounding structures. The work is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., having entered as a partial and promised gift in 1996.
History & Provenance
Bernardo Bellotto executed this oil on canvas in 1756. The work's documented ownership begins with the Winkler Collection in Dresden. It subsequently entered the collection of Willy Dreyfus, who lived in Frankfurt and Montreux.
Following Dreyfus's death, the painting passed to his daughter, Lili-Charlotte Sarnoff of Bethesda, Maryland. In 1996, Sarnoff donated the piece to the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., through a partial gift and promised contribution arrangement.
The painting is held by the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. Its inventory number is 1996.117.1, reflecting a partial and promised gift from the Winkler Collection, Dresden, to Willy Dreyfus in Frankfurt and Montreux, and subsequently to his daughter Lili-Charlotte Sarnoff in Bethesda, Maryland, who gifted it to the National Gallery of Art in 1996.
The work has been part of the National Gallery of Art's collection since 1996 and has been featured in exhibitions focused on Bernardo Bellotto's oeuvre and 18th-century European landscape painting.
Overview
Bernardo Bellotto’s 1757 oil on canvas depicts the courtyard of the Königstein Fortress, focusing on the area surrounding the Magdalenenburg. The composition centers on a stone‑walled enclosure framed by steep‑tiled roofs, with trees and distant hills receding into the background.
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Artist & collection
Artist
Bernardo Bellotto, was an Italian urban landscape painter or vedutista, and printmaker in etching famous for his vedute of European cities – Dresden, Vienna, Turin, and Warsaw.
Das kaiserliche Lustschloß Schloss Hof, Ehrenhofseite
Schlosshof Castle as
Vue du château de Neuilly
View of Pirna from the West, from the Corner of Wide Street
View of Pirna in Saxony
The New Market in Dresden from Moritzstraße
Pirna from the South
A country home
The high gate of Pirna- View of the castle in Radziejowice