Dresden Seen from the Right Bank of the Elbe by Bernardo Bellotto was created in 1748 and is in Gemaldegalerie Alte Meister Dresden. The size of the work is 133 x 237 cm and is made of oil on canvas.
About the Work
What would we know about Augustan-era Dresden had it not been captured on canvas by Bernardo Bellotto? What kind of image would we have of this royal residence—with its churches, palaces, ships, and inhabitants—had the Italian artist not preserved it in his grand vedute (cityscapes)? In 1747, Bellotto arrived on the banks of the Elbe from Venice, going on to create 33 distinct views of Dresden, Pirna, and the fortress of Königstein. The painter provided similarly vivid glimpses of Munich, Verona, Vienna, and Warsaw.
Bernardo Bellotto was trained by his uncle, the renowned Venetian veduta painter Canaletto—from whom he also adopted his name. No other painted depictions of Dresden have shaped our perception of this Augustan-era royal residence as profoundly as these; indeed, the term “Canaletto view” (Canaletto-Blick) has become a natural part of our vocabulary. Between 2009 and 2011, the works were restored thanks to the “For Canaletto” fundraising campaign, organized by the Friends of the Dresden State Art Collections.
