The one true Canaletto of the north

Being the nephew of Antonio Canaletto was both a blessing and a curse for Bernardo Bellotto, whose brooding landscapes eventually emerged from his uncle’s formidable shadow, as Michael Prodger observes

- Michael Prodger

BERNARDO BELLOTTO was lucky to have the mother he did. Whatever her maternal qualities, Fiorenza Domenica Canal happened to be the eldest of the three sisters of Antonio Canaletto, the most famous view painter in Venice and darling of the art-collecting British lordlings making their way around Europe on their Grand Tours. Bellotto was more than talented enough to have made a name for himself in his own right, but having a celebrity uncle certainly helped.

Bellotto’s father, Lorenzo, abandoned his wife and children when they were still young, so his mother’s family became even more important. Not only would Bellotto train in Canaletto’s studio and help him satisfy the growing demand for Venetian scenes, he would later point up the family connection by signing some of his works ‘Bernardo Canaletto’ or ‘Bellotto de Canaletto’. The closeness between the two painters was such that Bellotto became known as ‘Il Canalettino’ (Little Canaletto) and, in northern Europe, where he spent most of his career, simply as Canaletto.

The linking of names was a neat piece of advertising that meant both Bellotto and his patrons could share in the reflected glory of ‘Uncle Antonio’. Although Bellotto was skilled enough to be admitted to the Venetian painters’ guild at only 16, his style was initially so close to his eminent relative’s that there remains a certain amount of confusion as to who painted what. Canaletto taught his nephew how to draw and would use Bellotto’s drawings as the basis for his own compositions (Bellotto himself would make further paintings from them, too). It was a profitable production line.