In the galleries of the Art Institute of Chicago is the painting “View of Pirna with the Fortress of Sonnenstein” by Bernoardo Bellotto. This wonderful cityscape offers us a scene of life in 18th Century Italy.
We have before us a wonderful painting that is full of action and detail. The artist makes use of One-Point Perspective in a very clever way by using the white structure (identity unknown) which is placed right in the center of the painting as the anchor. The sidewall of the structure (which you can barely see) is the right side of the vanishing array and if you follow the lines of the ground with the lines of the edge of the roof they will meet at the gutter line of the house above the second floor. The actual vanishing point is in the tree directly above the wooden sign with the cloaked man standing adjacent to it. The curb of the other side of the street can be detected but is in shadow, if you follow that curb all the way to the end it too will meet in the tree at the vanishing point.
There is a lot of activity in this painting, in the center right of the scene is a man riding a horse that is approaching the two men on the stone fence to the right. Behind the fence and beyond you can see the center of the village and to the far right on the top of the hill is fortress Sonnenstein (son stone). The fence separates the grassy foreground and fields from the traffic of the town. In the center of village Pirna is a large church, which forms the apex of the cluster of buildings. Fortress Sonnenstein rests beautifully upon the hilltop overlooking the village. The fortress is really a palace in design and layout, which can be seen from the excellent architectural detailing Bellotto, has rendered.
The time of day is the late afternoon and the sun is creating high contrasting shadows along the left-hand side of the street and the right side of the large white structure in the middle of the painting. The shadow on the lawn just behind the stone fence nicely accentuates the gentleman seated upon it. The main street to the town is well populated with people both on foot and in carriages. The over-all tone of the scene is mild and pleasant in the village of Pirna.
Stephen F. Condren – Artist
