DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.23229#0014
CHOPIN AMONG ARTISTS AND SCHOLARS
Warsaw in the time
of Frederick Chopin
Three views of Warsaw
Among the many foreigners who settled in Poland at the turn of the
18th century there were two Frenchmen: Nicolas Chopin and Jean-
Pierre Norblin, a German: Jozef Eisner, and two Italians: Marcello
Bacciarelli and Bernardo Bellotto, all of whom contributed significantly to
Polish learning and culture. Norblin, Bacciarelli and Bellotto were distin-
guished artists; many of their paintings constitute excellent documenta-
tion of contemporary city life and Warsaw's urban fabric. Norblin's (1745-
1830) and Bacciarelli's (1731-1818) masterpieces will be discussed later
on; now let us concentrate on three large canvases executed by Bel-
lotto (1720-1780), today in the Royal Castle and the National Museum in
Warsaw. In 1764, Bernardo Bellotto, also known as Canaletto, accepted
an invitation from Poland's newly elected King Stanislaus Augustus Po-
niatowski (ruled in the years 1764-1795) to become his court painter in
Warsaw1. He remained there for the rest of his life, some sixteen years, as
a painter to the king, for whom he painted numerous views of the Polish
capital and its environs to decorate the Royal Castle in Warsaw. Neither
Nicolas Chopin nor his gifted son could know Bellotto, but Norblin is actu-
ally mentioned in one of Frederick's letters. He could have seen Bacciarelli
at the University campus in the late 1817.
Bellotto's first painting was commissioned in 1773 when intense works
on the rebuilding of the royal residence were in progress (fig. 1)2. The city
is seen from the top window of the east fagade of the Royal Castle. In the
foreground there is a terrace where the changing of the guard and a riding
lesson are taking place, whereas the stonemasons and sculptors seen
by the castle walls are engaged in tasks connected with the reconstruc-
tion of the interiors. Behind the terrace the late Baroque building known
as the Palace under the Tin Roof is visible. Depicted in the background is
the panorama of the city, complete with the Kazimierzowski Palace situ-
ated on the escarpment of the River Vistula, the palace of the Radziwitt
family, and the churches of the Holy Cross, the Nuns of the Visitation, the
Carmelites and the Bernardines, all at Krakowskie Przedmiescie Street.
It was in this beautiful street, amidst those very palaces and churches
11
Warsaw in the time
of Frederick Chopin
Three views of Warsaw
Among the many foreigners who settled in Poland at the turn of the
18th century there were two Frenchmen: Nicolas Chopin and Jean-
Pierre Norblin, a German: Jozef Eisner, and two Italians: Marcello
Bacciarelli and Bernardo Bellotto, all of whom contributed significantly to
Polish learning and culture. Norblin, Bacciarelli and Bellotto were distin-
guished artists; many of their paintings constitute excellent documenta-
tion of contemporary city life and Warsaw's urban fabric. Norblin's (1745-
1830) and Bacciarelli's (1731-1818) masterpieces will be discussed later
on; now let us concentrate on three large canvases executed by Bel-
lotto (1720-1780), today in the Royal Castle and the National Museum in
Warsaw. In 1764, Bernardo Bellotto, also known as Canaletto, accepted
an invitation from Poland's newly elected King Stanislaus Augustus Po-
niatowski (ruled in the years 1764-1795) to become his court painter in
Warsaw1. He remained there for the rest of his life, some sixteen years, as
a painter to the king, for whom he painted numerous views of the Polish
capital and its environs to decorate the Royal Castle in Warsaw. Neither
Nicolas Chopin nor his gifted son could know Bellotto, but Norblin is actu-
ally mentioned in one of Frederick's letters. He could have seen Bacciarelli
at the University campus in the late 1817.
Bellotto's first painting was commissioned in 1773 when intense works
on the rebuilding of the royal residence were in progress (fig. 1)2. The city
is seen from the top window of the east fagade of the Royal Castle. In the
foreground there is a terrace where the changing of the guard and a riding
lesson are taking place, whereas the stonemasons and sculptors seen
by the castle walls are engaged in tasks connected with the reconstruc-
tion of the interiors. Behind the terrace the late Baroque building known
as the Palace under the Tin Roof is visible. Depicted in the background is
the panorama of the city, complete with the Kazimierzowski Palace situ-
ated on the escarpment of the River Vistula, the palace of the Radziwitt
family, and the churches of the Holy Cross, the Nuns of the Visitation, the
Carmelites and the Bernardines, all at Krakowskie Przedmiescie Street.
It was in this beautiful street, amidst those very palaces and churches
11