Canaletto view (Vienna)
The so-called Canaletto view of Vienna is a perspective of Vienna's inner city from the Upper Belvedere Palace , made popular by Bernardo Bellotto , known as Canaletto. The original picture shows the city of Vienna around the middle of the 18th century, the dome of the Karlskirche , the tower of St. Stephen's Cathedral and the dome of the Salesian Church are vertical dominants. In the foreground you can see the gardens of the Belvedere. Other sights visible on Bellotto's oil paintings and which still exist today are the Palais Schwarzenberg and theLower Belvedere .
This depiction not only served as a faithful cityscape, but also had political symbolic power and stands for the development of Vienna under the House of Habsburg . As part of an analysis for a special exhibition opened in 2018 in the Upper Belvedere, it was found that the artist has apparently glossed over some of the perspective of his work in the sense of his client Maria Theresa . The buildings related to the client were shown slightly larger or moved. Here in particular the dome of the Salesian Church, the cornerstone of which was laid when Maria Theresa was born. The tower of the Elisabethinenkirche on the far right of the picture is also shown. He would not have been visible from this location. Canaletto added it anyway, presumably because it was co-financed by the Empress. Two observatories that no longer exist today were also shown. You should honor the Habsburgs as patrons of science.
Regardless of the growth of Vienna in the 19th century and the softening of the city, the overall impression of the Canaletto view remained largely intact and was recreated by numerous artists. The construction of the Hotel Intercontinental also only led to marginal changes. The recurring plans to build high-rise buildings near the historic center of Vienna were and are always discussed in connection with the Canaletto view ( environmental protection ). That is why it also plays a role in the Vienna high-rise concept.
Bellotto's original painting is now in the Kunsthistorisches Museum . Another Canaletto view based on a cityscape by Bernardo Bellotto can be found in Dresden . This vedute of Dresden from the right bank of the Elbe below the Augustus Bridge also played an important role in the urban planning discussions, namely in the debate about the type of reconstruction of the city center of Dresden, which was badly damaged by air raids in 1945.
Web links
- Canaletto view in the Vienna History Wiki of the City of Vienna
- Vienna cultural asset: Viennese high-rise concept STEP 2025
Remarks
- ^ Statement by the exhibition curator Markus Fellinger in the Ö1 Mittagsjournal, June 28, 2018.