Employees of the Murom Historical and Art Museum. The article is called “Masterpiece and Tragedy or the History of One Painting” and is dedicated to the brilliant painting by Karl Bryullov “The Last Day of Pompeii”.
I really liked the article, I quoted it, but quotes are rarely read, and with the permission of the author, I am posting it in its entirety in this post, slightly embellished with reproductions of the painting and musical accompaniment.
Read it, I assure you, you won’t regret it...
Walking through the halls of the Murom Gallery, guests of Murom often freeze in amazement at one inconspicuous, at first glance, exhibit. It's simple black and white drawing in a regular frame behind glass. It would seem, why does it attract museum visitors so much? However, having peered into his faded features, it is difficult to contain an involuntary sigh of admiration. The yellowish paper of the exhibit depicts a plot familiar to many from childhood. famous painting. Before the guests is Karl Bryullov’s sketch for his famous painting “The Last Day of Pompeii” - one of the brightest pearls of the Murom Gallery!
It is a rare museum that can boast of such an acquisition in its collection. Sometimes this sketch surprises even guests from Moscow and St. Petersburg. And they are fascinated not only by the uniqueness of the old drawing, but also by the attraction of the tragic plot conveyed by the artist’s genius.
And indeed, this small yellowed leaf tells viewers not only about terrible disaster antiquity, but also about how the greatest canvas of Russian painting was created.
ON THE EVE OF THE TRAGEDY.
Bryullov’s talented brush revealed to us one of the pictures of a terrible tragedy Ancient world. In two fateful days, August 24 and 25, 79 AD, several Roman cities ceased to exist - Pompeii, Herculaneum, Stabia and Octavianum. And the reason for this was the awakening of the Vesuvius volcano, at the foot of which these settlements were located.
People have long appreciated the high, incomparable fertility of volcanic soils and began to cultivate them since time immemorial. Scientists have written sources at their disposal that more than two thousand years ago, rich harvests were harvested around Vesuvius and on its slopes.
At the beginning of the 1st century. Vesuvius was covered with dense forest with wild grapes. At its top there was an overgrown cup-shaped depression - traces of an ancient crater, preserved after the volcano's 300-year dormant period. In this crater in 72 Spartacus was hiding with rebel slaves. 3,000 soldiers led by praetor Clodius Pulker were sent to search for him. However, Spartacus eluded them and escaped to the plain surrounding the volcano from the north.
Volcanic ash and tuff, which covered the gentle slopes of Vesuvius and its environs like a cloak, made the lands around it unusually fertile. Corn, barley, nuts, wheat, and grapes grew especially well. No wonder this area was famous for its excellent wines.
And at the beginning of the new era, the area near the Bay of Naples was also a favorite place of residence for wealthy Romans. In the north was the city of Herculaneum, to the south were Pompeii and Stabia - three kind of country suburbs of Naples. The patricians were attracted here by the mild and warm climate. Therefore, this part of the shore of the bay near Naples was built up with rich villas.
The first signs of Vesuvius's concern were noticed back in mid-August 79. But then few people were puzzled by this. Similar surprises have been seen behind the volcano before. The last time he thoroughly “disturbed” Pompeii was on February 5, 62 AD. A powerful earthquake destroyed the city, but this did not serve as a lesson to its residents. They were in no hurry to leave their homes. And this is no coincidence!
So, for the next 15 years, Pompeii was under construction - city residents restored houses destroyed by the earthquake and built new buildings.
Oddly enough, the townspeople, despite the cruel lesson of fate, did not take Vesuvius seriously and did not expect further troubles from it.
The tremors did not really bother the townspeople. Each time they repaired the cracks in the houses, simultaneously updating the interior and adding new decorations. No panic.
DAY OF THE WRATH OF THE GODS.B
Vesuvius opened its mouth - smoke poured out in a cloud - flames
spread widely as a battle flag.
The earth is agitated - from the shaky columns
Idols fall! A people driven by fear
Under the stone rain, under the inflamed ashes,
Crowds, old and young, are running out of the city.
A.S. Pushkin.
August 24 began as the most ordinary day in the life of Pompeii. In the morning there was no sign of the impending tragedy. The bright sun flooded the streets of the city. The people leisurely went about their business, discussing last news. Shops were open, incense was smoked in temples, and in the city theater they were preparing for a performance - on this day the next gladiator fights were supposed to take place. These handsome warriors proudly walked along the streets of Pompeii, laughing, reading the inscriptions on the walls of houses that numerous fans left for them.
Now, almost 2000 years later, we know literally minute by minute what happened in those tragic days. And this is thanks to two stunning letters from Pliny the Younger, an eyewitness to the tragedy.
On August 24, at about 2 o'clock in the afternoon, a giant cloud began to quickly rise above Vesuvius white with brown spots. It grew and spread out to the sides at altitude, reminiscent of the crown of a Mediterranean pine tree. A terrible roar was heard near the volcano, and continuous tremors occurred, which were also felt in Miseno (about 30 km from Pompeii), where Pliny’s family was located. The lines of his letter say that the shaking was so strong that carts were thrown from side to side, tiles fell off houses and statues and obelisks collapsed.
The sky suddenly became menacing, the cloud became darker and darker...
The sun was completely hidden behind the heavy ashfall, and pitch darkness set in. This further increased people's anxiety and confusion. At the same time, there were heavy downpours on the western slopes of the volcano, which occur frequently during eruptions. Loose ash and pumice strata on the slopes, “saturated” with water, rushed down in powerful mud, apparently , hot streams - lahars. Three such streams, following one after another, covered the city of Herculaneum, located on the seashore, destroying all life in the blink of an eye.
Hercalaneum was the first to die, since it was located almost at the foot of Vesuvius. Its city residents, who tried to escape, died under lava and ash.
The fate of Pompeii turned out differently. There was no flow of mud here, the only salvation from which, apparently, was flight; here it all started with volcanic ash, which could be easily shaken off. However, lapilli soon began to fall, then pieces of pumice, several kilograms each.
The full danger became clear only gradually. And when people finally realized what was threatening them, it was already too late. Sulfur fumes descended on the city; they crawled into all the cracks, penetrated under the bandages and scarves with which people covered their faces - it became increasingly difficult to breathe... Trying to break free, to swallow fresh air, the townspeople ran out into the street - here they fell under a hail of lapilli and returned back in horror, but as soon as they crossed the threshold of the house, the ceiling collapsed on them, burying them under its rubble. . It was impossible to go outside without covering your head with a pillow, as heavy stones fell on your head along with the ashes. Some managed to delay their death: they hid under stairwells and in galleries, spending there in dying fear the last half hour of their lives. However, later sulfur vapors penetrated there too.
By the time the horrified residents realized the seriousness and danger of their situation, the streets were already buried under a thick layer of ash, and it kept falling and falling from the sky. Soft ash on the ground, falling ash from the sky, sulfurous fumes in the air...
People, mad with fear and horror, ran, stumbled and fell, dying right in the streets, and were instantly covered in ash. Some of them decided to stay in houses where there was no ash, but the houses quickly filled with toxic fumes, and hundreds of people died from suffocation. Many found their deaths under the ruins of their own houses, were crushed by roofs that collapsed under the weight of the ash.
The final blow of Vesuvius on the unfortunate cities was a fiery wall of lava, forever burying the once flourishing settlements.
Forty-eight hours later, the sun shone again, but by that time both Pompeii and Herculaneum had already ceased to exist. In place of olive trees and green vineyards, on marble villas and throughout the city, ash and wave-like lava lay. Everything within a radius of eighteen kilometers was destroyed. Moreover, the ashes even carried to Syria and Egypt.
Now only a thin column of smoke was visible above Vesuvius, and the sky was blue again...
However, despite the scale of the tragedy, out of twenty thousand inhabitants of Pompeii, only two thousand died. Many residents realized in time what the eruption could threaten them with and tried to quickly escape to a safe place.
Almost seventeen centuries have passed. In the middle of the 18th century, people of a different culture and different customs took up spades and dug up what had rested underground for so long.
Before the excavations began, only the fact of the death of two cities during the eruption of Vesuvius was known. Now this tragic incident gradually emerged more and more clearly and the reports about it by ancient writers became flesh and blood. The terrifying scope of this catastrophe and its suddenness became increasingly visible: everyday life was interrupted so quickly that the piglets were left in the ovens and the bread in the ovens. What story could, for example, be told by the remains of two skeletons with slave chains still on their legs? What did these people endure - chained, helpless, in those hours when everything around them was dying? What kind of torment did this dog have to experience before it died? She was found under the ceiling of one of the rooms: chained, she rose along with the growing layer of lapilli, penetrating into the room through windows and doors, until she finally came across an insurmountable barrier - the ceiling, barked for the last time and suffocated.
Under the blows of the spade, pictures of the death of families and terrifying human dramas were revealed. . Some mothers were found with children in their arms; Trying to save the children, they covered them with the last piece of cloth, but they died together. Some men and women managed to grab their treasures and run to the gate, but here they were overtaken by a hail of lapilli, and they died, clutching their jewelry and money in their hands.
"Cave Canem" - "Beware of the dog" reads the inscription from the mosaic in front of the door of one house. Two girls died on the threshold of this house: they hesitated to escape, trying to collect their things, and then it was too late to escape. At the Hercules Gate the bodies of the dead lay almost side by side; the load of household belongings they were dragging turned out to be too much for them. The skeletons of a woman and a dog were found in one of the rooms. Careful research has made it possible to reconstruct the tragedy that took place here. In fact, why was the skeleton of the dog preserved in its entirety, while the remains of the woman were scattered throughout the room? Who could have scattered them? Maybe they were taken away by a dog, in which, under the influence of hunger, the wolf nature awoke? Perhaps she delayed the day of her death by attacking her own mistress and tearing her to pieces. Nearby, in another house, the events of the fateful day were interrupted by a wake. The funeral feast participants reclined around the table; This is how they were found seventeen centuries later - they turned out to be participants in their own funeral.
In one place, death overtook seven children playing, unsuspectingly, in a room. In the other there are thirty-four people and with them a goat, which, apparently, was trying, desperately ringing its bell, to find salvation in the imaginary strength of human habitation. Neither courage, nor prudence, nor strength could help those who were too slow to flee. The skeleton of a man of truly Herculean build was found; he was also unable to protect his wife and fourteen-year-old daughter, who were running ahead of him: all three remained lying on the road. True, in a last effort the man apparently made another attempt to rise, but, stupefied by the poisonous fumes, he slowly sank to the ground, turned over on his back and froze. The ashes that covered him seemed to take a cast from his body; scientists poured plaster into this mold and obtained a sculptural image of the deceased Pompeian.
One can imagine what a noise, what a roar was heard in a buried house, when a person left in it or left behind from others suddenly discovered that it was no longer possible to get out through the windows and doors; he tried to cut a passage in the wall with an ax; not finding a way to salvation here, he took on the second wall, and when a stream rushed towards him from this wall, he, exhausted, sank to the floor.
The houses, the temple of Isis, the amphitheater - everything has been preserved intact. There were wax tablets in the offices, papyrus scrolls in the libraries, tools in the workshops, and strigils (scrapers) in the baths. On the tables in the taverns there were still dishes and money, thrown in a hurry by the last visitors. Love poems and beautiful frescoes are preserved on the walls of the taverns.
“AND THE LAST DAY OF POMPEII BECAME THE FIRST DAY FOR THE RUSSIAN BRUSH...”
Karl Bryullov first visited the excavations of Pompeii in the summer of 1827. The story of the tragic catastrophe that befell the ancient city completely captured all the thoughts of the painter. Most likely, it was then that he conceived the idea of creating a monumental historical picture.
The artist began to collect necessary materials before you start painting. An important source of information for him were letters from an eyewitness to the disaster, Pliny the Younger, to the Roman historian Tacitus, which contained details of the disaster.
Bryullov studied the customs of ancient Italy, visited Naples several times, explored the destroyed Pompeii, walked along its streets, examined in detail the houses preserved under volcanic ash with all the furnishings and utensils. He visited the Naples Museum, where there were amazingly vivid imprints of the bodies of people covered with hot ashes. He makes a series of sketches: landscapes, ruins, fossilized figures.
The artist attended Pacini’s opera “The Last Day of Pompeii” several times and dressed his sitters in the costumes of the heroes of this performance. Based on materials from archaeological excavations, Bryullov paints not only all household items. He will depict some figures in the very poses that preserved the voids formed in the solidified lava in place of incinerated bodies - a mother with daughters, a woman who fell from a chariot, a group of young spouses. The artist took the image of the young man and his mother from Pliny.
In 1830, the artist began working on a large canvas. He painted at such a limit of spiritual tension that it happened that he was literally carried out of the studio in their arms. However, even poor health does not stop his work.
And so the final composition of the painting was born.
The crowd in the picture is divided into separate groups, from which the viewer gradually reads the artist’s literary intention - to depict the feelings and behavior of people in the face of death.
Each group has its own content, arising from general content paintings. The mother seeks to shelter the children. The sons save their old father and carry him on their shoulders. The groom carries away the unconscious bride. A weak mother convinces her son not to burden himself, and the father of the family, with the last movement in his life, tries to shelter his loved ones. But the rider, who has a much greater chance of escape than others, rushes at full speed, not wanting to help anyone. And the priest, whom they used to listen to and believed, cowardly leaves the dying city, hoping to remain unnoticed.
In one of the background groups the artist depicted himself. In his eyes it is not so much the horror of death as the artist’s close attention, heightened by the terrible spectacle. He carries on his head the most valuable thing - a box of paints and other painting supplies. It seems that he has slowed down and is trying to remember the picture unfolding before him.
And now the canvas was finished. Preparation for the masterpiece took six years of the master’s life (1827-1833). But its success was also enormous.
Long before the end, people in Rome began to talk about the marvelous work of the Russian artist. When the doors of his studio on St. Claudius Street opened wide to the public, and when the painting was later exhibited in Milan, the Italians were indescribably delighted. The name of Karl Bryullov immediately became famous throughout the Italian peninsula - from one end to the other. When meeting on the streets, everyone took off their hat to him; when he appeared in the theaters, everyone stood up; at the door of the house where he lived, or the restaurant where he dined, many people always gathered to greet him.
The real triumph awaited K. Bryullov at home. The painting was brought to Russia in July 1834, and it immediately became a subject of patriotic pride and became the center of attention of Russian society. Numerous engraved and lithographic reproductions of “The Last Day of Pompeii” spread the fame of K. Bryullov far beyond the capital. The best representatives of Russian culture enthusiastically greeted the famous painting: A.S. Pushkin translated its plot into poetry, N.V. Gogol called the painting a “universal creation” in which everything is “so powerful, so bold, so harmoniously combined into one, as soon as it could arise in the head of a universal genius.” But even these own praises seemed insufficient to the writer, and he called the picture “the bright resurrection of painting. He (K. Bryullov) is trying to grab nature with a gigantic embrace.”
E.A. Boratynsky, composed a laudatory ode for this occasion. Words from which - “The last day of Pompeii became the first day for the Russian brush!” - later became a famous aphorism.
The owner of the painting, Anatoly Demidov, presented the painting to Nicholas I, who exhibited the painting at the Academy of Arts as a guide for aspiring painters. After the opening of the Russian Museum in 1895, the painting was exhibited there, and the general public gained access to it.
Note.
This is roughly what the painter Karl Pavlovich Bryullov looked like while working on his painting. This is a self-portrait of the artist, dated "circa 1833." He was only 28 years old when he began this work, and 34 when he completed the painting.
This is how he depicted himself on the canvas (remember, with a box on his head...), you can best see him in the first fragment of the picture from the top.
“In Russia at that time there was only one painter who was widely famous, Bryullov” - Herzen A.I. about art.
In the first century AD, a series of eruptions of Mount Vesuvius occurred, which were accompanied by an earthquake. They destroyed several thriving cities that were located near the foot of the mountain. The city of Pompeii was gone in just two days - in August 79 it was completely covered with volcanic ash. He found himself buried under a seven-meter thick layer of ash. It seemed that the city had disappeared from the face of the earth. However, in 1748, archaeologists were able to excavate it, lifting the curtain of the terrible tragedy. Last day ancient city and a painting by the Russian artist Karl Bryullov was dedicated.
“The Last Day of Pompeii” is the most famous painting by Karl Bryullov. The masterpiece was created over six long years - from the concept and the first sketch to the full-fledged canvas. Not a single Russian artist had such success in Europe as the young 34-year-old Bryullov, who very quickly acquired a symbolic nickname - “ Great Charles”, - which corresponded to the scale of his six-year-old long-suffering brainchild - the size of the canvas reached 30 square meters (!). It is noteworthy that the canvas itself was painted in just 11 months; the rest of the time was spent on preparatory work.
"Italian Morning", 1823; Kunsthalle, Kiel, Germany
Into the success of the promising and talented artist, Western colleagues in the craft had a hard time believing. Arrogant Italians, extolling Italian painting over the entire world, they considered the young and promising Russian painter incapable of anything more, something large and large-scale. And this despite the fact that Bryullov’s paintings were, to a certain extent, already known long before Pompeii. For example, the famous painting “Italian Morning”, painted by Bryullov after his arrival in Italy in 1823. The picture brought fame to Bryullov, receiving flattering reviews first from the Italian public, then from members of the Society for the Encouragement of Artists. OPH presented the painting “Italian Morning” to Alexandra Feodorovna, the wife of Nicholas I. The Emperor wanted to receive a painting paired with “Morning,” which was the beginning of Bryullov’s painting “ Italian noon"(1827).
A girl picking grapes in the vicinity of Naples. 1827; State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg And the painting “Girl Picking Grapes in the Vicinity of Naples” (1827), glorifying the cheerful and cheerful character of Italian girls from the people. And the noisily celebrated copy of Raphael’s fresco - “The School of Athens” (1824-1828) - now decorates the copy room in the building of the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts. Bryullov was independent and famous in Italy and Europe, he had many orders - almost everyone going to Rome strives to bring a portrait of Bryullov’s work from there...
And yet they didn’t really believe in the artist, and sometimes they even laughed at him. The already aged gentleman Camuccini, who was considered at that time the first Italian painter, especially tried. Looking at the sketches of Bryullov’s future masterpiece, he concludes that “the theme requires a huge canvas, but on a huge canvas the good that is in the sketches will be lost; Karl thinks in small canvases... The little Russian paints small pictures... A colossal piece of work that someone bigger could handle!” Bryullov was not offended, he just smiled - to be angry and angry with the old man would be absurd. Moreover, the words Italian master further spurred on the young and ambitious Russian genius in his quest to conquer Europe once and for all, and especially the smug Italians.
With his characteristic fanaticism, he continues to develop the plot of his main picture, which, he believes, will undoubtedly glorify his name.
There are at least two versions of how the idea of writing Pompeii originated. The unofficial version is that Bryullov, amazed by the performance of Giovanni Pacini’s enchanting opera “The Last Day of Pompeii” in Rome, came home and immediately sketched out a sketch of the future painting.
According to another version, the idea to restore the plot of the “destruction” came thanks to the excavations of archaeologists who discovered a city buried and littered with volcanic ash, stone debris and lava in 79. For almost 18 centuries the city lay under the ashes of Vesuvius. And when it was excavated, houses, statues, fountains, and the streets of Pompeii appeared before the eyes of the amazed Italians...
Karl Bryullov’s elder brother, Alexander, who had been studying the ruins of the ancient city since 1824, also took part in the excavations. For his project for the restoration of the Baths of Pompeii, he received the title of Architect of His Majesty, corresponding member of the French Institute, member of the Royal Institute of Architects in England and the title of member of the academies of art in Milan and St. Petersburg...
Alexander Pavlovich Bryullov, self-portrait 1830 By the way, in mid-March 1828, when the artist was in Rome, Vesuvius suddenly began to smoke more than usual, five days later it threw out a high column of ash and smoke, dark red streams of lava, splashing out of the crater, flowed down the slopes, a menacing roar was heard, In the houses of Naples, window panes began to tremble. Rumors of the eruption immediately reached Rome, and everyone who could rushed to Naples to look at the strange spectacle. Karl, with some difficulty, found a place in the carriage, where, besides him, there were five more passengers, and could consider himself lucky. But while the carriage was traveling the long 240 km from Rome to Naples, Vesuvius stopped smoking and dozed off... This fact greatly upset the artist, because he could have witnessed a similar catastrophe, seen the horror and brutality of the angry Vesuvius with his own eyes.
Work and triumph
So, having decided on the plot, the meticulous Bryullov began collecting historical material. Striving for the greatest authenticity of the image, Bryullov studied excavation materials and historical documents. He said that all the things he depicted were taken from the museum, that he followed archaeologists - “today’s antiquarians”, that until the last stroke he cared to be “closer to the authenticity of the incident.”
Remains of the people of the city of Pompeii, our days. He showed the scene of action on the canvas quite accurately: “I took this scenery entirely from life, without retreating or adding at all”; In the place that appeared in the picture, during excavations, bracelets, rings, earrings, necklaces and the charred remains of a chariot were found. But the idea of the painting is much higher and much deeper than the desire to reconstruct an event that happened seventeen and a half centuries ago. The steps of the tomb of Scaurus, the skeleton of a mother and daughters hugging each other before death, a burnt cart wheel, a stool, a vase, a lamp, a bracelet - all this was the limit of authenticity...
As soon as the canvas was completed, the Roman workshop of Karl Bryullov came under a real siege. “...I experienced wonderful moments while painting this picture! And now I see the venerable old man Camuccini standing in front of her. A few days later, after all of Rome had flocked to see my painting, he came to my studio in Via San Claudio and, after standing for a few minutes in front of the painting, he hugged me and said: “Hold me, Colossus!”
The painting was exhibited in Rome, then in Milan, and everywhere enthusiastic Italians are in awe of the “Great Charles”.
The name of Karl Bryullov immediately became famous throughout the Italian peninsula - from one end to the other. When meeting on the streets, everyone took off their hat to him; when he appeared in the theaters, everyone stood up; at the door of the house where he lived, or the restaurant where he dined, many people always gathered to greet him.
Italian newspapers and magazines glorified Karl Bryullov as a genius, equal the greatest painters of all times, poets sang him in verse, and entire treatises were written about his new painting. Since the Renaissance itself, no artist has been the object of such universal worship in Italy as Karl Bryullov.
Bryullov Karl Pavlovich, 1836 - Vasily Tropinin The painting “The Last Day of Pompeii” introduced Europe to the mighty Russian brush and Russian nature, which is capable of reaching almost unattainable heights in every field of art.
The enthusiasm and patriotic enthusiasm with which the painting was greeted in St. Petersburg is difficult to imagine: thanks to Bryullov, Russian painting ceased to be a diligent student of the great Italians and created a work that delighted Europe!
The painting was donated by the philanthropist Demidov to Nicholas I, who briefly placed it in Imperial Hermitage, and then donated it to the Academy of Arts. According to the memoirs of a contemporary, “crowds of visitors, one might say, burst into the halls of the Academy to look at Pompeii.” They talked about the masterpiece in salons, shared opinions in private correspondence, and made notes in diaries. The honorary nickname “Charlemagne” was established for Bryullov.
Impressed by the painting, Pushkin wrote a six-line poem:
Vesuvius opened its mouth - smoke poured out in a cloud - flames
Widely developed as a battle flag.
The earth is agitated - from the shaky columns
Idols fall! A people driven by fear
Under the stone rain, under the inflamed ashes,
Crowds, old and young, are running out of the city.
Gogol dedicated a remarkably profound article to “The Last Day of Pompeii,” and the poet Evgeny Baratynsky expressed universal rejoicing in a well-known impromptu:
“You brought the spoils of peace
With you to your father's canopy,
And became “The Last Day of Pompeii”
First day for the Russian brush!”
Facts, secrets and mysteries of the painting “The Last Day of Pompeii”
Place of the painting
The discovery of Pompeii took place in 1748. Since then, month after month, continuous excavations have uncovered the city. Pompeii left an indelible mark on the soul of Karl Bryullov already during his first visit to the city in 1827.
“The sight of these ruins involuntarily made me transport myself to a time when these walls were still inhabited... You cannot pass through these ruins without feeling within yourself some completely new feeling, making you forget everything except the terrible incident with this city.”
“I took this scenery entirely from life, without retreating or adding at all, standing with my back to the city gates in order to see part of Vesuvius as main reason“, Bryullov shared in one of his letters.
"Street of Tombs" Pompeii We are talking about the Herculanean Gate of Pompeii (Porto di Ercolano), behind which, already outside the city, began the “Street of Tombs” (Via dei Sepolcri) - a cemetery with magnificent tombs and temples. This part of Pompeii was in the 1820s. was already well cleared, which allowed the painter to reconstruct the architecture on canvas with maximum accuracy.
And here is the place itself, which was exactly compared to the painting by Karl Bryullov.
photo Details of the picture
In recreating the picture of the eruption, Bryullov followed the famous letters of Pliny the Younger to Tacitus.
Young Pliny survived the eruption in the seaport of Miseno, north of Pompeii, and described in detail what he saw: houses that seemed to move from their places, flames spreading widely across the cone of the volcano, hot pieces of pumice falling from the sky, heavy rain of ash, black impenetrable darkness , fiery zigzags, like giant lightning... And Bryullov transferred all this to the canvas.
Seismologists are amazed at how convincingly he depicted an earthquake: looking at collapsing houses, one can determine the direction and strength of the earthquake (8 points). Volcanologists note that the eruption of Vesuvius was written with all possible accuracy for that time. Historians claim that Bryullov’s painting can be used to study ancient Roman culture.
The method of restoring the dying poses of the dead by pouring plaster into the voids formed by the bodies was invented only in 1870, but even during the creation of the picture, skeletons discovered in petrified ashes testified to the last convulsions and gestures of the victims.
A mother hugging her two daughters; a young woman who fell to her death when she fell from a chariot that hit a cobblestone that had been torn out of the pavement by an earthquake; people on the steps of the tomb of Scaurus, protecting their heads from rockfall with stools and dishes - all this is not a figment of the artist’s imagination, but an artistically recreated reality.
Self-portrait in a painting
On the canvas we see characters endowed with portrait features of the author himself and his beloved, Countess Yulia Samoilova. Bryullov portrayed himself as an artist carrying a box of brushes and paints on his head.
Self-portrait, as well as a girl with a vessel on her head - Julia The beautiful features of Julia are recognized four times in the picture: a mother hugging her daughters, a woman clutching her baby to her chest, a girl with a vessel on her head, a noble Pompeian woman who fell from a broken chariot.
A self-portrait and portraits of a friend are a conscious “effect of presence”, making the viewer as if a participant in what is happening.
"Just a picture"
It is a known fact that among Karl Bryullov’s students, his painting “The Last Day of Pompeii” had a rather simple name - simply “Painting”. This means that for all the students, this painting was just a painting with a capital P, a painting of paintings. An example can be given: just as the Bible is the book of all books, the word Bible seems to mean the word Book.
Walter Scott: “This is an epic!”
Walter Scott appeared in Rome, whose fame was so enormous that at times he seemed like a mythical creature. The novelist was tall and had a strong build. His red-cheeked peasant face with sparse blond hair combed over his forehead seemed the epitome of health, but everyone knew that Sir Walter Scott never recovered from an apoplexy and came to Italy on the advice of doctors. A sober man, he understood that his days were numbered, and spent time only on what he considered especially important. In Rome, he asked to be taken to only one old castle, which he needed for some reason, to Thorvaldsen and Bryullov. Walter Scott sat in front of the painting for several hours, almost motionless, silent for a long time, and Bryullov, no longer expecting to hear his voice, took a brush, so as not to waste time, and began to touch the canvas here and there. Finally, Walter Scott stood up, falling slightly on his right leg, walked up to Bryullov, caught both of his hands in his huge palm and squeezed them tightly:
I was expecting to see a historical novel. But you have created much more. This is epic...
Bible story
Tragic scenes were often depicted in various manifestations of classical art. For example, the destruction of Sodom or the Egyptian plagues. But in such biblical stories it was implied that the execution came from above; here one could see a manifestation of God’s providence. As if biblical story I would not know senseless fate, but only the wrath of God. In the paintings of Karl Bryullov, people were at the mercy of the blind natural elements, fate. There can be no discussion of guilt and punishment here.. You won't be able to find the main character in the picture. It's simply not there. What appears before us is only a crowd, a people who were gripped by fear.
The perception of Pompeii as a vicious city, mired in sins, and its destruction as Divine punishment could be based on some finds that emerged as a result of excavations - these are erotic frescoes in ancient Roman houses, as well as similar sculptures, phallic amulets, pendants, and so on. The publication of these artifacts in the Antichita di Ercolano, published by the Italian Academy and republished in other countries between 1771 and 1780, caused a reaction culture shock- against the backdrop of Winckelmann’s postulate about the “noble simplicity and calm grandeur” of ancient art. That's why the public early XIX centuries could associate the eruption of Vesuvius with the biblical punishment brought down on the wicked cities of Sodom and Gomorrah.
Accurate calculations
Eruption of Vesuvius Having decided to paint a large canvas, K. Bryullov chose one of the most difficult methods of its compositional construction, namely, light-shadow and spatial. This required the artist to accurately calculate the effect of the painting at a distance and mathematically determine the incidence of light. And in order to create the impression of deep space, he had to pay the most serious attention to the aerial perspective.
Blazing in the distance is Vesuvius, from the depths of which rivers of fiery lava flow in all directions. The light from them is so strong that the buildings closest to the volcano seem to be already on fire. One French newspaper noted this pictorial effect that the artist wanted to achieve and pointed out: “An ordinary artist, of course, would not fail to take advantage of the eruption of Vesuvius to illuminate his painting; but Mr. Bryullov neglected this remedy. Genius inspired him with a bold idea, as happy as it was inimitable: to illuminate the entire front part of the picture with the quick, minute and whitish brilliance of lightning, cutting through the thick cloud of ash that covered the city, while the light from the eruption, with difficulty breaking through the deep darkness, casts reddish penumbra into the background.”
At the limit of possibilities
He painted at such a limit of spiritual tension that it happened that he was literally carried out of the studio in their arms. However, even poor health does not stop his work.
Newlyweds
Newlyweds According to ancient Roman tradition, the heads of newlyweds were decorated with wreaths of flowers. The flammeo, the traditional veil of the ancient Roman bride made of thin yellow-orange fabric, fell from the girl’s head.
Fall of Rome
In the center of the picture, a young woman lies on the pavement, and her unnecessary jewelry is scattered on the stones. Next to her is crying in fear Small child. A beautiful, beautiful woman, the classical beauty of draperies and gold seems to symbolize a refined culture Ancient Rome dying before our eyes. The artist acts not only as an artist, a master of composition and color, but also as a philosopher, speaking in visible images about the death of a great culture.
Woman with daughters
According to Bryullov, he saw one female and two children’s skeletons, covered in these poses with volcanic ash, at excavations. The artist could associate a mother with two daughters with Yulia Samoilova, who, having no children of her own, took in two girls, relatives of friends, to raise. By the way, the father of the youngest of them, composer Giovanni Pacini, wrote the opera “The Last Day of Pompeii” in 1825, and the fashionable production became one of the sources of inspiration for Bryullov.
Christian priest
In the first century of Christianity, a minister of the new faith could have appeared in Pompeii; in the picture he can be easily recognized by the cross, liturgical utensils - a censer and a chalice - and a scroll with a sacred text. The wearing of body crosses and pectoral crosses in the 1st century has not been confirmed archaeologically. Amazing welcome the artist - the courageous figure of a Christian priest, who knows no doubt and fear, is contrasted with a pagan priest running away in fear in the depths of the canvas.
Priest
The status of the character is indicated by the cult objects in his hands and the headband - infula. Contemporaries reproached Bryullov for not bringing to the fore the opposition of Christianity to paganism, but the artist did not have such a goal.
Contrary to the canons
Bryullov wrote almost everything differently than it was supposed to. Every great artist violates existing rules. In those days, they tried to imitate the creations of old masters who knew how to show the ideal beauty of a person. This is called "CLASSICISM". Therefore, Bryullov does not have distorted faces, crush or confusion. It doesn't have the same crowd as on the street. There is nothing random here, and the characters are divided into groups so that everyone can be seen. And what’s interesting is that the faces in the picture are similar, but the poses are different. The main thing for Bryullov, as well as for ancient sculptors, is to convey human feeling with movement. This difficult art is called “PLASTIC”. Bryullov did not want to disfigure people’s faces or their bodies with either wounds or dirt. This technique in art is called “CONVENTIONALITY”: the artist refuses external plausibility in the name of a high goal: man is the most beautiful creature on earth.
Pushkin and Bryullov
A big event in the artist’s life was his meeting and the friendship that began with Pushkin. They immediately connected and fell in love with each other. In a letter to his wife dated May 4, 1836, the poet writes:
“...I really want to bring Bryullov to St. Petersburg. But he is a real artist, a kind fellow, and is ready for anything. Here Perovsky overwhelmed him, transported him to his place, locked him up and forced him to work. Bryullov forcibly escaped from him.”
“Bryullov is leaving me now. He goes to St. Petersburg reluctantly, afraid of the climate and captivity. I try to console and encourage him; and meanwhile my soul sinks into my boots when I remember that I’m a journalist.”
Less than a month has passed since Pushkin sent a letter about Bryullov’s departure to Saint Petersburg how on June 11, 1836, a dinner was given in honor of famous painter. Maybe we shouldn’t have celebrated this unremarkable date, June 11th! But the fact is that, by a strange coincidence, it was on June 11, fourteen years later, that Bryullov would come, essentially, to die in Rome... Sick, old.
Celebration of Russia
Karl Pavlovich Bryullov. Artist Zavyalov F.S. At the Louvre exhibition of 1834, where “The Last Day of Pompeii” was shown, paintings by Ingres and Delacroix, adherents of the “notorious ancient beauty,” hung next to Bryullov’s painting. Critics unanimously scolded Bryullov. For some, his painting was twenty years late, others found in it excessive boldness of imagination, destroying the unity of style. But there were still others - spectators: Parisians crowded for hours in front of “The Last Day of Pompeii” and admired it as unanimously as the Romans. A rare case - the general opinion defeated the judgments of the “noted critics” (as newspapers and magazines called them): the jury did not risk pleasing the “noted ones” - Bryullov received a gold medal of the first dignity. Russia was triumphant.
"Professor out of turn"
The Academy Council, noting that Bryullov’s painting has undeniably the greatest merits, placing it among the extraordinary artistic creations in Europe at the present time, asked His Majesty’s permission to elevate the famous painter to the rank of professor out of turn. Two months later, the minister of the imperial court notified the president of the academy that the sovereign had not given permission and ordered that the charter be adhered to. At the same time, wishing to express new sign all-merciful attention to the talents of this artist, His Majesty granted Bryullov a Knight of the Order of St. Anna 3rd degree.
Canvas dimensions
Bryullov Karl Pavlovich (1799-1852)
Not a single European artist was awarded such a grandiose triumph in the 19th century as befell the young Russian painter Karl Pavlovich Bryullov, when in mid-1833 he opened the doors of his Roman workshop to spectators with a newly completed painting" ". Like Byron, he had the right to say about himself that one fine morning he woke up famous. The word "success" is not enough to characterize the attitude towards it picture. There was something more at hand - painting caused among the audience an explosion of delight and admiration for the Russian artist, who seemed to have discovered new page in the history of world art.
Autumn 1833 painting appeared on exhibition V Milan. Here the triumph of the Russian master reached its highest point. Everyone wanted to see the work “that all of Rome is talking about.” Italian newspapers and magazines published rave reviews about " The last day of Pompeii"and its author. Just as the great masters of the Renaissance were once honored, so now they have begun to honor Bryullov. He became the most famous person in Italy. He was greeted with applause on the street and given a standing ovation in the theater. Poets dedicated poems to him. When traveling at the borders of the Italian principalities, he was not required to present a passport - it was believed that every Italian was obliged to know him by sight.
In 1834, "" was exhibited at the Paris Salon. French Academy arts awarded Bryullov gold medal. One of the first biographers Bryullov, N.A. Ramazanov, says that, despite the envious talk of some French artists, the Parisian public mainly focused its attention on " The last day of Pompeii"and with difficulty and reluctance left this paintings".
Never before has the glory of Russian art spread so widely throughout Europe. Even greater celebration awaited Bryullov at home.
Brought to St. Petersburg in July 1834 and exhibited first in the Hermitage and then at the Academy of Arts, it immediately became the center of attention of Russian society and became a subject of patriotic pride.
“Crowds of visitors, one might say, burst into the halls of the Academy to look at Pompeii,” says a contemporary. In his official annual report Academy of Arts admitted Bryullovskaya picture the best creation 19th century. Widely distributed engraved playback "The last day of Pompeii". They smashed glory Bryullov throughout the country, far beyond the capital. The best representatives of Russian culture enthusiastically welcomed picture. Pushkin wrote:
Vesuvius opened its mouth - smoke poured out in a cloud, flames
Widely developed as a battle flag.
The earth is agitated - from the shaky columns
Idols fall! A people driven by fear
Under the stone rain, under the inflamed ashes,
Crowds, old and young, are running out of the city.
Gogol wrote about " The last day of Pompeii"an extensive article in which he acknowledged this picture“a complete universal creation,” where everything is “so powerful, so bold, so harmoniously combined into one, as only it could arise in the head of a universal genius.”
Bryullov's painting raised an unusually high interest in painting in the most wide circles Russian society. Incessant talk about " The last day of Pompeii"in the press, in correspondence, in private conversations, they clearly showed that a work of painting is capable of exciting and touching people no less than literature. Increasing public role visual arts in Russia it began precisely with the Bryullov celebrations.
History painting, which has long occupied a leading place in academic art, turned primarily to subjects taken from the Bible and Gospel or from ancient mythology. But even in cases where plot paintings was not a legendary tale, but a real historical event, the painters of the Academy were, in essence, very far from historical authenticity in their understanding and interpretation of what was depicted. They weren't looking historical truth, because their goal was not to recreate the past, but to embody one or another abstract idea. In their paintings Historical figures took on the appearance of conventional “ancient heroes,” regardless of whether an event from ancient Roman or Russian history was depicted.
" paved the way for a completely different understanding and interpretation of the historical topic.
In search of life's truth Bryullov, the first among Russian artists, set himself the goal of recreating in picture real event of the past, based on the study historical sources and archaeological data.
In comparison with the fantastic "archaeology" of its predecessors Bryullov this external historicism was in itself a serious innovative achievement. However, they do not exhaust the meaning Bryullovsky paintings. Archaeological authenticity served Bryullov only a means for a deeper disclosure of the topic, for expressing the modern attitude towards the past.
"Thought paintings belongs entirely to the taste of our age, which, as if feeling its terrible fragmentation, strives to unite all phenomena in general groups and chooses strong crises felt by the whole mass,” wrote Gogol, revealing the content of “ The last day of Pompeii".
Unlike before historical painting with its hero cult and emphasis on the individual as opposed to the impersonal crowd, Bryullov thought "" how crowd scene, in which the only and true hero would be the people. All major characters V picture are almost equivalent exponents of its theme; meaning paintings is embodied not in the depiction of a single heroic act, but in an attentive and accurate transmission of the psychology of the masses.
At the same time Bryullov with deliberate and even sharp straightforwardness, he emphasizes the main contrasts, which express the idea of the struggle between the new and the old, life with death, the human mind with the blind power of the elements. Everything is subordinated to this thought ideological And artistic solution paintings, from here come its features that determined the place " The last day of Pompeii" in Russian art of the 19th century century.
Subject The paintings are taken from ancient Roman history. Pompey(or rather Pompeii) - an ancient Roman city located at the foot of Vesuvius - on August 24, 79 AD, as a result of a powerful volcanic eruption, it was filled with lava and covered with stones and ash. Two thousand residents (of which there were about 30,000 in total) died on the streets of the city during a stampede.
For more than one and a half thousand years, the city remained buried underground and forgotten. Only at the end of the 16th century, during excavation work, a place was accidentally discovered where a lost Roman settlement had once been located. Since 1748, archaeological excavations began, especially intensified in the first decades of the 19th century. They aroused increased interest in artistic circles not only in Italy, but throughout the world. Each new discovery became a sensation among artists and archaeologists, and the tragic subject and Pompeii At the same time it was used in literature, painting and music. Opera appeared in 1829 Italian composer Paccini, in 1834 - a historical novel by the English writer Bulverlitton" Last days of Pompeii". Bryullov was the first to turn to this topic: sketches of his future paintings date back to 1827-1828.
Bryullov was 28 years old when he decided to write "". The fifth year of his retirement in Italy was ending. He already had several serious works under his belt, but none of them seemed to the artist quite worthy of his talent; he felt that he had not yet lived up to the hopes that were placed on him.
From Bryullov were waiting big historical painting - specifically historical, because in the aesthetics of the early 19th century this type of painting was considered the highest. Without breaking with the dominant aesthetic views of his time, Bryullov and he himself sought to find a plot that corresponded to the internal possibilities of his talent and at the same time capable of satisfying the requirements that could be presented to him modern criticism and the Academy of Arts.
Looking for such a story Bryullov I hesitated for a long time between themes from Russian history and ancient mythology. He intended to write picture "Oleg nails his shield to the gates of Constantinople", and later outlined a plot from stories Peter the Great. At the same time, he made sketches on mythological themes (" Death of Phaeton", "Hylas, stolen by nymphs"and others). But mythological themes, highly valued at the Academy, contradicted the realistic tendencies of the young Bryullov, and for the Russian theme, being in Italy, he could not collect material.
Subject destruction of Pompeii resolved many difficulties. The plot itself, if not traditional, was still undoubtedly historical, and from this side it satisfied the basic requirements of academic aesthetics. The action was supposed to unfold against the backdrop ancient city with him classical architecture and monuments ancient art; the world of classical forms thus entered into picture without any deliberateness, as if by itself, but the spectacle of raging elements and tragic death opened up access to romantic images in which the painter’s talent could find new, never-before-seen opportunities for depicting great feelings, passionate emotional impulses and deep experiences. It is not surprising that the topic captivated and captured Bryullov: it combines all the conditions for the most complete expression of his thoughts, knowledge, feelings and interests.
Sources based on which Bryullov solved his topic, genuine ancient monuments appeared, discovered in the lost city, the works of archaeologists and descriptions disasters V Pompeii, made by a contemporary and eyewitness, Roman writer Pliny the Younger.
Work on " The last day of Pompeii" dragged on for almost six years (1827-1833), and is evidence of deep and intense creative quest Bryullov There are numerous drawings, studies and sketches that clearly show how the artist’s idea developed.
Among these preparatory works, the sketch of 1828 occupies a special place. In terms of the power of artistic influence, it is perhaps not inferior to picture. True, the sketch remained not completely finalized, individual images and characters were only outlined in it, and not fully revealed; but this external incompleteness is uniquely combined with deep internal completeness and artistic persuasiveness. The meaning of individual episodes, subsequently developed in detail in picture, here it seems to dissolve in a general passionate impulse, in a single tragic feeling, in the complete image of a dying city, powerless against the pressure of the elements falling on it. The sketch is based on the romantically understood idea of man’s struggle with fate, which here is personified by the elemental forces of nature. Death approaches with inevitable cruelty, like ancient fate, and man with all his reason and will is unable to resist fate; all he can do is face his inevitable death with courage and dignity.
But Bryullov did not dwell on this solution to his topic. He was not satisfied with the sketch precisely because it so persistently sounded notes of hopeless pessimism, blind submission to fate and disbelief in the strength of man. Such an understanding of the world stood outside the traditions of Russian culture and contradicted its healthy folk foundations. The life-affirming power inherent in talent Bryullov, could not come to terms with " The last day of Pompeii", demanded exit and permission.
Bryullov found this way out by contrasting the spiritual greatness and beauty of man with the destructive elements of nature. For him, plastic beauty turns into a powerful force that affirms life in the face of death and destruction. “... His figures are beautiful despite all the horror of their situation. They drown it out with their beauty,” wrote Gogol, who subtly noticed the main idea Bryullovsky paintings.
Trying to express the various psychological states and shades of feelings that gripped the inhabitants of the dying city, Bryullov built my own picture as a cycle of separate, closed episodes, not connected by plot. Their ideological meaning becomes clear only when one simultaneously looks at all the groups and independent plot motifs that make up "".
The idea of beauty triumphing over destruction is expressed with particular clarity in the group of figures crowded on the steps of the tomb on the left side paintings. Bryullov deliberately combined here the images of blooming strength and youth. Neither suffering nor horror distorts their ideally beautiful features; On their faces one can read only an expression of surprise and anxious expectation. Titanic power is felt in the figure of the young man, making his way through the crowd with a passionate impulse. It is characteristic that in this world of beautiful classical images inspired by ancient sculpture, Bryullov adds a noticeable touch of realism; many of his characters are undoubtedly drawn from life, and among them the self-portrait of himself stands out Bryullov, depicting himself as a Pompeian artist who, fleeing the city, takes with him a box of brushes and paints.
In the main groups on the right side paintings The main motives are those that emphasize the spiritual greatness of a person. Here Bryullov concentrated examples of courage and selfless performance of duty.
In the foreground there are three groups: “two young Pompeians carrying their sick old father on their shoulders”, “Pliny with his mother” and “young spouses” - a young husband supporting his wife, who is falling in exhaustion, crowned with a wedding wreath. However, the last group is almost not developed psychologically and has the character of a compositional insertion necessary for rhythmic balance paintings. Much more meaningful is the group of sons carrying their father: in the image of an old man, majestically extending his hand, a proud inflexibility of spirit and stern courage are expressed. In the depiction of the youngest son, a black-eyed Italian boy, one feels an accurate and direct sketch from life, in which a living realistic feeling is clearly manifested Bryullov.
Realistic principles are expressed with particular force in the remarkable group of Pliny and his mother. In sketches and early sketches, this episode is developed in classical forms, emphasizing the historicity and antique nature of the scene. But in picture Bryullov decisively departed from the original plan - the images he created amaze with their unbiased and genuine vitality.
IN center paintings there is a prostrate figure of a young woman who was killed when falling from a chariot. It can be assumed that in this figure Bryullov wanted to symbolize the entire dying ancient world; A hint of such an interpretation is also found in the reviews of contemporaries. In accordance with this intention, the artist sought to find the most perfect classical embodiment for this figure. Contemporaries, including Gogol, saw in her one of the most poetic creatures Bryullov.
Not all episodes are equally important for the development of the theme, but their alternation and comparison persistently reveals the main idea Bryullov about the struggle of life with death, about the triumph of reason over the blind forces of the elements, about the birth of a new world on the crumbling ruins of the old.
It is no coincidence that next to the central figure of the murdered woman the artist depicted a beautiful baby, as a symbol of the inexhaustible power of life; It is no coincidence that the images of youth and old age are contrasted in the groups of Pliny with his mother and sons carrying an elderly father; Finally, the emphasized contrast between the “pagan”, anciently beautiful crowd on the steps of the tomb and the majestically calm “family of Christians” is not accidental. IN picture there is both a pagan priest and a Christian priest, as if personifying the departing ancient world and the Christian civilization emerging on its ruins.
The images of the priest and priest are perhaps not deep enough; their spiritual world is not shown in picture and the characterization remained largely external; this subsequently gave V.V. Stasov a reason to severely reproach Bryullov because he did not use the opportunity to sharply contrast the decrepit, dying Rome and young Christianity. But the thought of these two worlds is undoubtedly present in picture. With simultaneous and integral perception paintings The organic connection of its constituent episodes clearly appears. The shades of feelings and various states of mind, acts of valor and self-sacrifice next to manifestations of despair and fear are given in " The last day of Pompeii"towards a harmonious, harmonious and artistically integral unity.
Wonderful canvases. L., 1966. P.107
Restoration of the painting The Last Day of Pompeii
An exceptional event in the life of the Russian Museum was K. P. Bryullova"". Numerous previous restorations only delayed the moment of beginning fundamental work on the canvas - the canvas of the painting “burnt out” and became fragile; in places where the canvas had been broken, there were 42 patches that appeared on the front side; the loss of the paint layer was tinted with the addition of the original painting; The varnish coating has changed greatly in color. After strengthening, the painting was transferred to a new canvas. This wonderful work was done by the restorers I. N. Kornyakova, A. V. Minin, E. S. Soldatenkov; advised by S. F. Konenkov.
Painting by K. P. Bryullov “The Last Day of Pompeii” entered the Russian Museum from the Hermitage in 1897. After a major restoration in 1995, the painting was stretched onto a previously repaired designer stretcher and returned to the exhibition.
The decision to begin restoration of the painting was made at a meeting of the expanded Restoration Council of the State Russian Museum on March 15, 1995.
At the beginning of the work, it was strengthened with preventive paper gluing and then the canvas was removed from the author's stretcher. After this, the painting was stretched over the edges on the marble floor with the colorful surface down and the back side was cleaned of surface dirt. WITH back side Two layers of ancient restoration duplicating edges were removed, which were the cause of severe deformations of the canvas along the edges, and more than 40 restoration patches that stood in place of old breaks in the canvas. Places over hundreds of losses of the author's canvas, especially numerous along the edges, were repaired with inserts of new canvas. After this, the painting was duplicated onto a new canvas, identical in character and quality to the author’s, ordered in Germany. Places where the paint layer was lost were filled with restoration primer and tinted with watercolors. The designer varnish is completely restored by regeneration with alcohol vapor.
In the process of work, methods for strengthening the paint layer and soil over a large space were developed. An important result of the work was the development of new devices that facilitate and simplify the process of technical restoration. According to a special project, a durable duralumin stretcher was created with a system of special fastenings for stretching the duplicating canvas. This system made it possible to repeatedly tighten the canvas to the desired tension during the work.
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Karl Bryullov lived in Italy for more than four years before he reached Pompeii in 1827. At that time he was looking for a plot for big picture on a historical topic. What he saw amazed the artist. It took him six years to collect material and paint an epic canvas with an area of almost 30 m2.
In the picture, people of different genders and ages, occupations and faiths, caught in the disaster, are rushing about. However, in the motley crowd you can notice four identical faces...
In the same 1827, Bryullov met the woman of his life - Countess Yulia Samoilova. Having separated from her husband, the young aristocrat, a former maid of honor, who loved a bohemian lifestyle, moved to Italy, where morals are freer. Both the Countess and the artist had a reputation as heartthrobs. Their relationship remained free, but long, and their friendship continued until Bryullov’s death. “Nothing was done according to the rules between me and Karl.”, Samoilova later wrote to his brother Alexander.
Julia with her Mediterranean appearance (there were rumors that the woman’s father was the Italian Count Litta, her mother’s stepfather) was an ideal for Bryullov, moreover, as if created for an ancient plot. The artist painted several portraits of the countess and “gave” her face to the four heroines of the painting, which became his most famous creation. In “The Last Day of Pompeii” Bryullov wanted to show the beauty of a person even in a desperate situation, and Yulia Samoilova was for him a perfect example of this beauty in the real world.
1 Yulia Samoilova. Researcher Erich Hollerbach noted that the similar heroines of “The Last Day of Pompeii,” despite social differences, look like representatives of one big family, as if the disaster had brought all the townspeople closer and equalized.
2 Street. “I took this scenery from life, without retreating or adding at all, standing with my back to the city gates in order to see part of Vesuvius as the main reason.”, Bryullov explained in a letter to his brother the choice of location. This is already a suburb, the so-called Road of the Tombs, leading from the Herculaneum Gate of Pompeii to Naples. Here were the tombs of noble citizens and temples. The artist sketched the location of the buildings during excavations.
3 Woman with daughters. According to Bryullov, he saw one female and two children’s skeletons, covered in these poses with volcanic ash, at excavations. The artist could associate a mother with two daughters with Yulia Samoilova, who, having no children of her own, took in two girls, relatives of friends, to raise. By the way, the father of the youngest of them, composer Giovanni Pacini, wrote the opera “The Last Day of Pompeii” in 1825, and the fashionable production became one of the sources of inspiration for Bryullov.
4 Christian priest. In the first century of Christianity, a minister of the new faith could have appeared in Pompeii; in the picture he can be easily recognized by the cross, liturgical utensils - a censer and a chalice - and a scroll with a sacred text. The wearing of body crosses and pectoral crosses in the 1st century has not been confirmed archaeologically.
5 Pagan Priest. The status of the character is indicated by the cult objects in his hands and the headband - infula. Contemporaries reproached Bryullov for not bringing to the fore the opposition of Christianity to paganism, but the artist did not have such a goal.
8 Artist. Judging by the number of frescoes on the walls of Pompeii, the profession of painter was in demand in the city. Bryullov portrayed himself as an ancient painter running next to a girl with the appearance of Countess Yulia - this is what the Renaissance masters, whose work he studied in Italy, often did.
9 The woman who fell from the chariot. According to art critic Galina Leontyeva, the Pompeian woman lying on the pavement symbolizes death ancient world, for which the artists of classicism yearned.
10 Things, which fell out of the box, like other objects and decorations in the picture, were copied by Bryullov from bronze and silver mirrors, keys, lamps filled with olive oil, vases, bracelets and necklaces found by archaeologists that belonged to the inhabitants of Pompeii of the 1st century AD. e.
11 Warrior and boy. According to the artist's idea, these are two brothers saving a sick old father.
12 Pliny the Younger. An ancient Roman prose writer who witnessed the eruption of Vesuvius described it in detail in two letters to the historian Tacitus.
13 Mother of Pliny the Younger. Bryullov placed the scene with Pliny on canvas “as an example of a child’s and mother's love", despite the fact that disaster overtook the writer and his family in another city - Misenach (about 25 km from Vesuvius and about 30 km from Pompeii). Pliny recalled how he and his mother got out of Misenum at the height of the earthquake, and a cloud of volcanic ash was approaching the city. It was difficult for the elderly woman to escape, and she, not wanting to cause the death of her 18-year-old son, tried to persuade him to leave her. “I replied that I would be saved only with her; I take her by the arm and make her quicken her pace.”, said Pliny. Both survived.
14 Goldfinch. During a volcanic eruption, birds died in flight.
15 Newlyweds. According to ancient Roman tradition, the heads of newlyweds were decorated with wreaths of flowers. The flammei, the traditional veil of an ancient Roman bride made of thin yellow-orange fabric, fell from the girl’s head.
16 Tomb of Scaurus. Building from the Road of the Tombs, resting place of Aulus Umbricius Scaurus the Younger. The tombs of the ancient Romans were usually built outside the city limits on both sides of the road. During his lifetime, Scaurus the Younger held the position of duumvir, that is, he stood at the head of the city government, and for his services he was even awarded a monument in the forum. This citizen was the son of a wealthy merchant of garum fish sauce (Pompeii was famous for it throughout the empire).
17 Building destruction. Seismologists, based on the nature of the destruction of the buildings depicted in the picture, determined the intensity of the earthquake “according to Bryullov” - eight points.
18 Vesuvius. The eruption that occurred on August 24-25, 79 AD. e., destroyed several cities of the Roman Empire located at the foot of the volcano. Of the 20-30 thousand inhabitants of Pompeii, about two thousand were not saved, judging by the remains found.
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ARTIST
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1799 - Born in St. Petersburg into the family of academician of ornamental sculpture Pavel Brullo. Plot
The canvas shows one of the most powerful volcanic eruptions in human history. In 79, Vesuvius, which had previously been silent for so long that it had long been considered extinct, suddenly “woke up” and forced all living things in the area to fall asleep forever.
It is known that Bryullov read the memoirs of Pliny the Younger, who witnessed the events in Misenum, which survived the disaster: “The panic-stricken crowd followed us and... pressed on us in a dense mass, pushing us forward when we came out... We froze in the midst of the most dangerous and terrifying scenes. The chariots that we ventured to take out shook so violently back and forth, although they were standing on the ground, that we could not hold them up even by placing large stones under the wheels. The sea seemed to roll back and be pulled away from the shores by the convulsive movements of the Earth; definitely the land expanded significantly, and some sea animals found themselves on the sand... Finally, the terrible darkness began to gradually dissipate, like a cloud of smoke; daylight appeared again, and the sun even came out, although its light was gloomy, as happens before an approaching eclipse. Every object that appeared before our eyes (which were extremely weakened) seemed to have changed, covered with a thick layer of ash, as if by snow.”
Pompeii today
The devastating blow to the cities occurred 18-20 hours after the start of the eruption - people had enough time to escape. However, not everyone was prudent. And although it was not possible to establish the exact number of deaths, the number is in the thousands. Among them are mainly slaves whom their owners left to guard their property, as well as the elderly and sick who did not have time to leave. There were also those who hoped to wait out the disaster at home. In fact, they are still there.
As a child, Bryullov became deaf in one ear after being slapped by his father.
On the canvas, people are in panic; the elements will not spare either the rich man or the poor man. And what is noteworthy is that Bryullov used one model to write people of different classes. We are talking about Yulia Samoilova, her face appears on the canvas four times: a woman with a jug on her head on the left side of the canvas; a woman falling to her death in the center; a mother attracting her daughters to her in the left corner of the picture; a woman covering her children and saving with her husband. The artist looked for faces for the remaining characters on the streets of Rome.
What is also surprising in this picture is how the issue of light is resolved. “An ordinary artist, of course, would not fail to take advantage of the eruption of Vesuvius to illuminate his painting; but Mr. Bryullov neglected this remedy. Genius inspired him with a bold idea, as happy as it was inimitable: to illuminate the entire front part of the picture with the quick, minute and whitish brilliance of lightning, cutting through the thick cloud of ash that covered the city, while the light from the eruption, with difficulty breaking through the deep darkness, casts a reddish penumbra fades into the background,” the newspapers wrote at the time.
Context
By the time Bryullov decided to write the death of Pompeii, he was considered talented, but still promising. Serious work was needed to gain the status of a master.
At that time, the theme of Pompeii was popular in Italy. Firstly, excavations were very active, and secondly, there were a couple more eruptions of Vesuvius. This could not but be reflected in culture: Paccini’s opera “L" Ultimo giorno di Pompeia” was successfully performed on the stages of many Italian theaters. There is no doubt that the artist saw it, perhaps more than once.
The idea to write about the death of the city came from Pompeii itself, which Bryullov visited in 1827 on the initiative of his brother, the architect Alexander. It took 6 years to collect the material. The artist was meticulous in details. Thus, the things that fell out of the box, jewelry and other various objects in the picture were copied from those that archaeologists found during excavations.
Bryullov's watercolors were the most popular souvenir from Italy
Let's say a few words about Yulia Samoilova, whose face, as mentioned above, appears four times on the canvas. For the painting, Bryullov was looking for Italian types. And although Samoilova was Russian, her appearance corresponded to Bryullov’s ideas about how Italian women should look.
“Portrait of Yu. P. Samoilova with Giovanina Pacini and the Little Arab.” Bryullov, 1832-1834
They met in Italy in 1827. Bryullov there adopted the experience of senior masters and looked for inspiration, and Samoilova lived her life. In Russia, she had already managed to get a divorce, she had no children, and for her too turbulent bohemian life, Nicholas I asked her to move away from the court.
When work on the painting was completed and the Italian public saw the canvas, a boom in Bryullov began. It was a success! Everyone, when meeting the artist, considered it an honor to say hello; When he appeared in the theaters, everyone stood up, and at the doors of the house where he lived, or the restaurant where he dined, many people always gathered to greet him. Since the Renaissance itself, no artist has been the object of such worship in Italy as Karl Bryullov.
Triumph also awaited the painter in his homeland. The general euphoria about the film becomes clear after reading Baratynsky’s lines:
He brought the spoils of peace
Take it with you to your father's canopy.
And there was the “Last Day of Pompeii”
First day for the Russian brush.
Karl Bryullov spent half of his conscious creative life in Europe. He went abroad for the first time after graduating from the Imperial Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg to improve his skills. Where else, if not in Italy, can you do this?! At first, Bryullov mainly painted Italian aristocrats, as well as watercolors with scenes from life. The latter have become a very popular souvenir from Italy. These were small-sized pictures with small-figure compositions, without psychological portraits. Such watercolors mainly glorified Italy with its beautiful nature and represented the Italians as a people who genetically preserved the ancient beauty of their ancestors.
Interrupted date (The water is already running over the edge). 1827
Bryullov wrote at the same time as Delacroix and Ingres. This was the time when the theme of the fate of huge human masses came to the fore in painting. Therefore, it is not surprising that for his programmatic canvas Bryullov chose the story of the death of Pompeii.
Bryullov undermined his health while painting St. Isaac's Cathedral
The painting made such a strong impression on Nicholas I that he demanded that Bryullov return to his homeland and take the place of professor at the Imperial Academy of Arts. Returning to Russia, Bryullov met and became friends with Pushkin, Glinka, and Krylov.
Bryullov's frescoes in St. Isaac's Cathedral
The artist spent his last years in Italy, trying to save his health, which had been damaged while painting St. Isaac's Cathedral. Hours of long, hard work in the damp, unfinished cathedral had a bad effect on the heart and aggravated rheumatism.