Bernardo Bellotto gen. Canaletto 1721/22 Venice - 1780 Warsaw) after The Frauenkirche in Dresden An artistically high-quality copy of Bellotto's famous painting of 1751/52 in the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Staatl. Kunstsammlungen Dresden (inv. no. gal. 617), created in 1916 and executed almost in its original size. From an unusual angle, Bellotto depicts the 91 metre-high dome of the Frauenkirche, completed just a few years earlier, which was commissioned by the Dresden City Council from George Bähr in 1726-1743 and is one of the most important buildings of the Baroque period. At the same time, it provides an authentic picture of the city and its architecture on the right-hand side of the picture by also showing the street enlivened by a staffage of figures. The Venetian veduta painter Bellotto was one of the outstanding artists who were appointed to the electoral court in Dresden during the Augustan period. He learnt from his uncle, the then already famous Giovanni Antonio Canal gen. Canaletto (1697 - 1768). Dresden, where the 25-year-old painter Bellotto settled in 1747, was not only the capital of the Electorate of Saxony, but also the residence of the Polish king (as Augustus III) in the person of Elector Frederick Augustus II. The elector and king was an exceptional connoisseur of art, who was particularly fond of contemporary Venetian painting. Bellotto was appointed court painter with an annual salary of 1750 thalers and enjoyed further high esteem. During his first period in Dresden (1747 - 1758), Bellotto perfected his painting, applying his growing skills to the production of several cycles of vedutas commissioned by the king and Count Heinrich von Brühl. A main cycle of 14 views of Dresden, which can still be seen today in the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister in Dresden, was created by 1754. These views of Dresden allow today's viewer to travel back in time to the middle of the 18th century, with Bellotto combining detailed architectural depictions of the royal seat with scenes of everyday life. Oil on canvas; marked on verso "Copie nach No. 617 der Königl; Gemälde-Galerie Dresden 1916". 189 cm x 187 cm. Frame. Provenance: Dissolution of an important German private collection - Part I. After Bernardo Bellotto (1721/22 - 1780). Copy after the well-known painting by Bellotto in the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, executed in 1916. Inscribed and dated on the reverse.