“View of Dresden from the Right Bank below the Augustus Bridge”, by Bernardo Bellotto, Canaletto (1721-1780), is in need of urgent restoration. The painting is one of the most popular in the Dresden Collection housed at the Old Masters Picture Gallery. The view of Dresden is second to none, it has been shown for over 200 years and is now in need of restoration. The Friends of the Museum have started a campaign to raise money for the painting to undergo the restoration needed. Painter and sculptor Georg Baselitz, chamber singer René Pape and writer Uwe Tellkamp have all joined the effort.

In this painting, Canaletto’s style is unmistakable. During his lifetime the artist celebrated his success in the European art scene having painted realistic views of city centers and landscape views of Vienna, Munich, Turin and Warsaw.

The complementary views are taken from each bank of the river Elbe to make the most of the city's superb site and to show its elegant Baroque and Rococo architecture to best advantage. So accurately painted are Bellotto's views of Dresden that they have been used by German authorities to help reconstruct the city's monuments after their destruction during World War II. Bellotto's work is often confounded with those of his celebrated uncle, Canaletto. He imitated his uncle's style and even signed his paintings with the same nickname...