Bernardo Bellotto: Canaletto-View

The Renewed Masterpiece

Cabinet Exhibition by the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister (Old Masters Picture Gallery), Deutscher Pavillion in the Zwinger, entrance via Rüstkammer (Armoury)
26 August to 20 November, 2011

No other painting has influenced our idea of Baroque Dresden as the vedute “Dresden seen from the right banks of the river Elbe below the bridge Augustus”, which was created by the Venetian artist Bernardo Bellotto in 1748. Shortly before, Augustus III, Elector of Saxony and King of Poland, had him come to the Elbe city as a court artist. Bernardo Bellotto, who called himself Canaletto like his uncle, succeeded in creating a masterpiece with this artwork: Even today, we naturally speak of the “Canaletto View” when looking at the city skyline.

Thanks to the fundraising campaign “For Canaletto” which was initiated by the friends of the museums, “MUSEIS SAXONICIS USUI – Freunde der Staatlichen Kunstsammlungen Dresden e.V.”, the painting was restored. This exhibition celebrates the close of the restoration and the painting’s return to the public. Now, the original artist’s handwriting can be seen. The restoration is descriptively documented and the results of the research are presented in this exhibition, for the visitor is able to comprehend every step of the work process of the restorers and scientists. Additionally, further examples of Dresden cityscapes from the holdings of the Old Masters Picture Gallery are presented in this exhibition, in which Bellotto recorded the architecture and everyday life of his time on canvas, thus creating real ambassadors of the Saxon residential city.

The renowned series “The Renewed Masterpiece” is continued with this exhibition. A catalogue will accompany the exhibition.