diff --git a/src/ol/webgl/RenderTarget.js b/src/ol/webgl/RenderTarget.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..c9cde76b0d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/ol/webgl/RenderTarget.js
@@ -0,0 +1,124 @@
+/**
+ * A wrapper class to simplify rendering to a texture instead of the final canvas
+ * @module ol/webgl/RenderTarget
+ */
+import {equals} from '../array.js';
+
+
+/**
+ * @classdesc
+ * This class is a wrapper around the association of both a `WebGLTexture` and a `WebGLFramebuffer` instances,
+ * simplifying initialization and binding for rendering.
+ * @api
+ */
+class WebGLRenderTarget {
+
+  /**
+   * @param {import("./Helper.js").default} helper WebGL helper; mandatory.
+   * @param {Array<number>} [opt_size] Expected size of the render target texture; note: this can be changed later on.
+   */
+  constructor(helper, opt_size) {
+    /**
+     * @private
+     * @type {import("./Helper.js").default}
+     */
+    this.helper_ = helper;
+    const gl = helper.getGL();
+
+    /**
+     * @private
+     * @type {WebGLTexture}
+     */
+    this.texture_ = gl.createTexture();
+
+    /**
+     * @private
+     * @type {WebGLFramebuffer}
+     */
+    this.framebuffer_ = gl.createFramebuffer();
+
+    /**
+     * @type {Array<number>}
+     * @private
+     */
+    this.size_ = opt_size || [1, 1];
+
+    /**
+     * @type {Uint8Array}
+     * @private
+     */
+    this.data_ = new Uint8Array(1);
+
+    this.updateSize_();
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Changes the size of the render target texture. Note: will do nothing if the size
+   * is already the same.
+   * @param {Array<number>} size Expected size of the render target texture
+   * @api
+   */
+  setSize(size) {
+    if (equals(size, this.size_)) {
+      return;
+    }
+    this.size_[0] = size[0];
+    this.size_[1] = size[1];
+    this.updateSize_();
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Returns the size of the render target texture
+   * @return {Array<number>} Size of the render target texture
+   * @api
+   */
+  getSize() {
+    return this.size_;
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Returns the content of the render target texture as raw data (series of r,g,b,a values)
+   * @return {Uint8Array} Integer array of color values
+   * @api
+   */
+  read() {
+    const size = this.size_;
+    const gl = this.helper_.getGL();
+
+    gl.bindFramebuffer(gl.FRAMEBUFFER, this.framebuffer_);
+    gl.readPixels(0, 0, size[0], size[1], gl.RGBA, gl.UNSIGNED_BYTE, this.data_);
+    return this.data_;
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * @return {WebGLTexture} Texture to render to
+   */
+  getTexture() {
+    return this.texture_;
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * @return {WebGLFramebuffer} Frame buffer of the render target
+   */
+  getFramebuffer() {
+    return this.framebuffer_;
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * @private
+   */
+  updateSize_() {
+    const size = this.size_;
+    const gl = this.helper_.getGL();
+
+    this.texture_ = this.helper_.createTexture(size, null, this.texture_);
+
+    gl.bindFramebuffer(gl.FRAMEBUFFER, this.framebuffer_);
+    gl.viewport(0, 0, size[0], size[1]);
+    gl.framebufferTexture2D(gl.FRAMEBUFFER, gl.COLOR_ATTACHMENT0, gl.TEXTURE_2D, this.texture_, 0);
+
+    this.data_ = new Uint8Array(size[0] * size[1] * 4);
+  }
+}
+
+export default WebGLRenderTarget;
diff --git a/test/spec/ol/webgl/rendertarget.test.js b/test/spec/ol/webgl/rendertarget.test.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..d405fe9fab
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/spec/ol/webgl/rendertarget.test.js
@@ -0,0 +1,80 @@
+import WebGLRenderTarget from '../../../../src/ol/webgl/RenderTarget.js';
+import WebGLHelper from '../../../../src/ol/webgl/Helper.js';
+
+
+describe('ol.webgl.RenderTarget', function() {
+  let helper, testImage_4x4;
+
+  beforeEach(function() {
+    helper = new WebGLHelper();
+
+    const canvas = document.createElement('canvas');
+    testImage_4x4 = canvas.getContext('2d').createImageData(4, 4);
+    for (let i = 0; i < testImage_4x4.data.length; i += 4) {
+      testImage_4x4.data[i] = 100;
+      testImage_4x4.data[i + 1] = 150;
+      testImage_4x4.data[i + 2] = 200;
+      testImage_4x4.data[i + 3] = 250;
+    }
+  });
+
+  describe('constructor', function() {
+
+    it('creates a target of size 1x1', function() {
+      const rt = new WebGLRenderTarget(helper);
+      expect(rt.getSize()).to.eql([1, 1]);
+    });
+
+    it('creates a target of specified size', function() {
+      const rt = new WebGLRenderTarget(helper, [12, 34]);
+      expect(rt.getSize()).to.eql([12, 34]);
+    });
+
+  });
+
+  describe('#setSize', function() {
+
+    it('updates the target size', function() {
+      const rt = new WebGLRenderTarget(helper, [12, 34]);
+      expect(rt.getSize()).to.eql([12, 34]);
+      rt.setSize([45, 67]);
+      expect(rt.getSize()).to.eql([45, 67]);
+    });
+
+    it('does nothing if the size has not changed', function() {
+      const rt = new WebGLRenderTarget(helper, [12, 34]);
+      const spy = sinon.spy(rt, 'updateSize_');
+      rt.setSize([12, 34]);
+      expect(spy.called).to.be(false);
+      rt.setSize([12, 345]);
+      expect(spy.called).to.be(true);
+    });
+
+  });
+
+  describe('#readData', function() {
+
+    it('returns 1-pixel data with the default options', function() {
+      const rt = new WebGLRenderTarget(helper);
+      expect(rt.read().length).to.eql(4);
+    });
+
+    it('returns the content of the texture', function() {
+      const rt = new WebGLRenderTarget(helper, [4, 4]);
+      helper.createTexture([4, 4], testImage_4x4, rt.getTexture());
+      const data = rt.read();
+
+      expect(data[0]).to.eql(100);
+      expect(data[1]).to.eql(150);
+      expect(data[2]).to.eql(200);
+      expect(data[3]).to.eql(250);
+      expect(data[4]).to.eql(100);
+      expect(data[5]).to.eql(150);
+      expect(data[6]).to.eql(200);
+      expect(data[7]).to.eql(250);
+      expect(data.length).to.eql(4 * 4 * 4);
+    });
+
+  });
+
+});