The Baroque was the source of inspiration for Dresden, but it didn't stop there. Even in the time of the Saxon electors, the Art Academy, as the Dresden Academy of Fine Arts (HfBK) likes to be abbreviated, was one of the most renowned places for young artists to go. Famous professors included Canaletto, Giovanni Casanova, Ludwig Richter, Oskar Kokoschka, Otto Dix and Conrad Felixmüller.

Dresden was also a cultural centre and meeting place for many artists during the Romantic period; Caspar David Friedrich, Carl Gustav Carus and Philipp Otto Runge also lived and worked here.

Incidentally, the dome of the building on Brühl's Terrace is popularly known as the "lemon squeezer".