The talent and class of painting of Bernardo Bellotto, known as Canaletto (1721–1780), are borne out by his well-preserved creative output. However, limited source material relating to his life and work impedes the serious assessment of his life strategy, social status, and functioning at the royal courts of Dresden and Warsaw over the years 1759–1780. Faced with such a situation, in order to better understand the conduct and behaviour of the court artist, the present author has reached out to sociological studies on the phenomenon of prestige. The main reason behind this is that prestige universal and independent of historical era. Moreover, researchers into the hierarchization of society also indicate that ‘prestige is conferred upon everything that, in the view of people, is important in bringing about hierarchization’. It is precisely this matter, so very important to those studying life at court, that has not been properly examined. The present paper gives an assessment of the life strategy, social status, and activities of Bernardo Bellotto over the years 1762–1780.