Dresden From the Right Bank of the Elbe Below the Augustus Bridge

Painted in 1748 in oil on canvas by the Venetian-born urban landscape painter Bernardo Bellotto, this view shows Dresden from the right bank of the Elbe, looking downstream beneath the Augustus Bridge. The river occupies the foreground, and in the distance rise the Frauenkirche and the cathedral, which was still under construction and surrounded by scaffolding. The bridge structures the composition and leads the eye toward the city's monumental skyline. A year earlier Bellotto had painted a companion view from the same bank, looking upstream, and both canvases are held in the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister. Between 1751 and 1753 he also made smaller replicas of the two scenes, some of which survive in other collections. Over time, these paintings have proved valuable as visual records for rebuilding parts of the city destroyed during the Second World War.

Painter

Bernardo Bellotto

Date

1748

Medium

oil paint, canvas

Dimensions

133 × 237 cm

Museum

Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, Dresden

Genre

Veduta

Depicts

Church of Our Lady, Elbe, Augustus Bridge, Dresden Cathedral

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