Le Pont du Rialto

c. 1735

Joins the workshop of his uncle Canaletto

The son of Lorenzo Antonio Bellotto and Fiorenza Canal, Canaletto's sister, Bernardo loved drawing from an early age and around 1735 entered his uncle's Venetian workshop as a pupil and assistant, later becoming his collaborator. He stayed there until the early 1740s (according to some sources, from 1738 to 1743).

1741

Marries Maria Elisabetta Rizzorno

In 1741 Bellotto married; in 1747 his wife, Maria Elisabetta Rizzorno, and their son Lorenzo, born in 1744, moved with him to Dresden.

1742

Goes to Rome to paint views of the city

In 1742 Bellotto went to Rome, where he painted views of the city. His brief stays in Florence and Lucca, documented by his views of those cities, were most likely part of the same journey.

1745

At the court of Charles Emmanuel III in Turin

Bellotto worked in Turin at the court of Charles Emmanuel III, King of Sardinia and Duke of Savoy; in these years he also visited Verona several times. His View of Turin with the Palazzo Reale and View of the Old Bridge over the Po in Turin (Galleria Sabauda) date from 1745.

1747

Moves to Dresden at the invitation of Augustus III

At the end of 1746 Augustus III, Elector of Saxony and King of Poland and a great lover of Venetian painting, invited Bellotto to Dresden, and in July 1747 the painter moved there with his wife and son. He was appointed court painter, probably through the mediation of Francesco Algarotti, at a salary of 1,750 thalers a year.

1747–1757

Post: court painter