 In the 17th century, palaces and manor houses began springing up along what had by then become the major artery of the new Polish capital.During the 18th century, the Italian painter Bernardo Bellotto (better known in Central Europe as "Canaletto"), a court painter to Poland's last king, Stanisław August Poniatowski, rendered in meticulous detail the streets and architecture of Poland's capital, with its burgeoning population, strong economy, and seats of learning and the arts.It was partly thanks to his paintings that Warsaw's historic district was accurately rebuilt by the Polish people from its deliberate destruction by German special squads in World War II, especially following the Warsaw Uprising in 1944.