A Capriccio of Palaces and a Loggia Facing a Classical Bridge c. 1765

Curator: Here we have Bernardo Bellotto's drawing, "A Capriccio of Palaces and a Loggia Facing a Classical Bridge," created around 1765. It's rendered in pen and ink. What strikes you initially about this cityscape? Editor: Well, it feels very… orderly. Imposing even, with its precise lines and focus on architectural structure. Though a preliminary sketch, its clarity conveys ambition, aspiration... a potent sense of civic pride, maybe. Curator: Exactly. Consider Bellotto's process. As an artist deeply rooted in the tradition of vedute, or view painting, his method demanded accurate representation, and many drawings like this functioned as studies for larger paintings produced later. But not only as 'merely' preparatory tools! Here Bellotto is mediating between observed realities, that is to say a number of elements captured as ‘building portraits’, on the one hand and the ideal image and the playfulness and fictions surrounding the picturesque that underpinned the creation of his market. Editor: Ah, a composite vision! Because the iconography suggests more than a simple architectural rendering. The carefully constructed symmetry, the emphasis on verticality through columns and towers—these recall centuries of symbolic meaning associated with power, stability, and the idealized city. Is Bellotto intentionally drawing on those established motifs? Curator: Undoubtedly. Furthermore, the use of graphite lines—thin, controlled—allowing him to build a dense network, constructing in detail the scene before then reworking individual lines, as it shows its partial overworking with pen and ink, to accentuate particular points, give us hints on the labor involved. Editor: That labor adds another layer to our interpretation. Thinking about the relationship between human effort and these massive, idealized structures... it speaks volumes. And notice the presence of sailing ships, symbols of travel and discovery, nestled into the palatial city’s stage sets, it conjures this moment of both confidence and expanding social boundaries. Curator: Indeed. So, we move from the physical making of this detailed drawing as an object through considering its role as an element contributing to urban fantasies in print. Editor: Precisely. This drawing resonates powerfully on multiple levels. Thank you.