Second Belvedere, Dresden

The Second Belvedere stood on the Brühl Terrace in Dresden as a fine example of mid-18th-century Rococo architecture. Commissioned by Heinrich Graf von Brühl and designed by Johann Christoph Knöffel between 1748 and 1751, it formed part of a larger ensemble known as the Brühlsche Herrlichkeiten. The building reached its peak during Dresden’s Rococo period before being destroyed in 1759 on orders from Frederick the Great as retaliation for Brühl’s political influence. Its interior was a masterpiece of decorative art. The elliptical vestibule led up a three-part curved staircase to an oval antechamber with a boldly moulded ceiling by Stefano Torelli. The main hall, twice the size of the vestibule, featured five tall arched windows facing the Elbe and a ceiling rising 12 metres to meet the roof structure. Staircase pilasters supported an ornate entablature adorned with high-relief stucco figures framing a ceiling painting by Louis de Silvestre. Flanking rectangular rooms with chamfered corners completed the plan. Below lay the Grottensaal, an earth-cooled Sala Terrena lined with simulated stalactites and a shell-encrusted fountain. Eight palm-like columns supported its vaulted ceiling, offering relief from summer heat. Only a single painted view by Bernardo Bellotto survives, showing the terrace and the Second Belvedere barely visible on the far left. Two sphinxes, carved by Johann Gottfried Knöffler, still stand beside the garden steps, the sole survivors of the building’s destruction.