Vuë de la Place de la Ville Neuve de Dresden, 1750
Original etching inches 23,2 x 35,2 (mm 590 x 895)
Original etching, signed on plate; De Vesme 14, Kozakiewicz 187, Succi 14;
Superb proof, sharp, intense and well-inked, on a healthy, crisp paper, an indication that it has not undergone restoration or washing. With a good uncut margin of about 25 mm per side.
After several trips along Italy, in 1747 the 26-year-old Bernardo Bellotto was invited by Augustus III, King of Poland, to move to Dresden, where he became his favorite court painter. He stayed there for eleven years and carried out an important output. His activity is divided between painting and engraving, where his numerous monumental etchings depicting Dresden stand out. In addition to their undoubted artistic value, these prints were key references in the reconstruction of the German city after the devastating bombings of 1945. To underscore the importance of his work in the reconstruction effort, in 2016, the city dedicated a monument to him on the banks of the Elbe River, which runs through Dresden.