The first step in creating this work can be considered 1827. Bryullov's painting "The Last Day of Pompeii" was written for six long years. The artist, who recently arrived in Italy, together with Countess Samoilova, goes to inspect the ancient ruins of Pompeii and Herculaneum, and sees a landscape, which he immediately decides to depict on canvas. Then he makes the first sketches and sketches for the future picture.

For a long time the artist cannot decide to move on to work on a large canvas. He changes the composition over and over again, but own work does not suit him. And finally, in 1830, Bryullov decided to test himself on a large canvas. Three years the artist will bring himself to complete exhaustion, trying to bring the picture to perfection. Sometimes he gets so tired that he is unable to leave the place of work on his own, and he even has to be carried out of his workshop in his arms. An artist who is fanatical about his work forgets about everything mortal, not noticing his health, giving himself everything for the good of his work.

And so, in 1833, Bryullov was finally ready to present the painting The Last Day of Pompeii to the public. The assessments of both critics and ordinary viewers are unambiguous: the picture is a masterpiece.

The European public admires the creator, and after the exhibition in St. Petersburg, the genius of the artist is also recognized by domestic connoisseurs. Pushkin devotes a laudatory verse to the painting, Gogol writes an article about it, even Lermontov mentions the painting in his works. The writer Turgenev also spoke positively about this great masterpiece, expressed theses about the creative unity of Italy and Russia.

On this occasion, the painting was shown to the Italian public in Rome, and was later transferred to an exhibition in Parisian Louvre. Europeans enthusiastically spoke about such a grandiose plot.

There were a lot of good and flattering reviews, there was also a fly in the ointment that stained the work of the master, that is, criticism, not flattering reviews in the Paris press, well, how could it be without it. It is not clear what exactly did not like this idle French journalists?, today you can only build hypotheses and guess. As if not paying attention to all this noisy journalistic writings, the Paris Academy of Arts deservedly awarded Karl Bryullov a commendable gold medal.

The forces of nature terrify the inhabitants of Pompeii, the volcano Vesuvius is rampant, ready to raze everything that is in its path to the ground. Terrible lightning flashes in the sky, an unprecedented hurricane is approaching. Central characters on the canvas, many art historians consider a frightened child lying near a dead mother.

Here we see grief, despair, hope, the death of the old world, and perhaps the birth of a new one. This is a confrontation between life and death. A noble woman tried to escape on a fast chariot, but no one can escape Kara, everyone must be punished for their sins. On the other hand, we see a frightened child who

against all odds, he survived to revive the fallen race. But what is his further fate we certainly don't know, and can only hope for a happy ending.

On the left in the picture, in the confusion of what is happening, a group of people accumulated on the steps of the tomb of Skaurus. Interestingly, in the frightened crowd, we can recognize the artist himself, watching the tragedy. Maybe by this the creator wanted to say that the familiar world is close to death? And we people may need to think about how we live, and correctly prioritize.

We also see people who are trying to take out all the essentials from the dying city. Again, Bryullov's painting "The Last Day of Pompeii" shows us the confrontation. On the one hand, these are the sons who endure in their arms own father. Despite the risk, they do not try to save themselves: they would rather die than leave the old man and save themselves separately.

At this time, behind them, young Pliny helps her fallen mother to her feet. We also see parents covering their children with their own bodies. But there is also a man who is not so noble.

Three more characters also attract attention - women kneeling in prayer. Realizing that it is impossible to be saved on their own, they hope for God's help. But who exactly are they praying to? Maybe, frightened, they ask for help from all known deities? Nearby we see a Christian priest with a cross around his neck, holding a torch in one hand and a censer in the other, in fright, he turns his gaze to the crumbling statues of pagan gods. And one of the most emotional characters- a young man who holds his dead beloved in his arms. Death is already indifferent to him, he has lost the desire to live, and expects death as a deliverance from suffering.

Seeing this work for the first time, any viewer admires its colossal scale: on canvas, with an area of ​​​​more than thirty square meters, the artist tells the story of many lives united by disaster. It seems that the plane of the canvas depicts not a city, but the whole world surviving death. The viewer is imbued with the atmosphere, his heart begins to beat faster, every now and then he himself succumbs to panic. But Bryullov’s painting “The Last Day of Pompeii” is, at first glance, an ordinary disaster story. Even if well told, this story could not remain in the hearts of fans, could not become the apogee of the era of Russian classicism, without other features.

As already mentioned, the artist had many imitators and even plagiarists. And it is quite possible that technical side one of the "colleagues" could surpass Bryullov. But all such attempts became only fruitless imitation, not of interest, and the work was only suitable for decorating booths. The reason for this is another feature of the picture: looking at it, we recognize our acquaintances, we see how the population of our world behaves in the face of death.

The canvas, bought by patron Demidov, was subsequently donated to Tsar Nicholas I, who ordered it to be hung at the Academy of Arts, demonstrating to novice students what an artist could create.

Now the painting The Last Day of Pompeii is in the city of St. Petersburg, in the Russian Museum. Its size is a considerable size is 465 by 651 centimeters.

Museums section publications

Ancient Roman tragedy that became the triumph of Karl Bryullov

Karl Bryullov was born on December 23, 1799. The sculptor's son French descent Paul Brullo, Karl was one of seven children in the family. His brothers Pavel, Ivan and Fedor also became painters, and his brother Alexander became an architect. However, the most famous was Karl, who painted in 1833 the canvas "The Last Day of Pompeii" - the main work of his life. Kultura.RF remembered how this canvas was created.

Karl Bryullov. Self-portrait. 1836

History of creation

The painting was painted in Italy, where in 1822 the artist went on a retirement trip from Imperial Academy art for four years. But he lived there for 13 years.

The plot tells about the ancient Roman tragedy - the death of the ancient city of Pompeii, located at the foot of Vesuvius: August 24, 79 AD. e. The volcanic eruption claimed the lives of 2,000 people.

In 1748, the military engineer Roque de Alcubierre began archaeological excavations at the site of the tragedy. The discovery of Pompeii became a sensation and was reflected in the work different people. So, in 1825, the opera by Giovanni Pacini appeared, and in 1834 - historical novel Englishman Edward Bulwer-Lytton, dedicated to the death of Pompeii.

Bryullov first visited the excavation site in 1827. Going to the ruins, the 28-year-old artist had no idea that this trip would be fateful for him: “You can’t go through these ruins without feeling in yourself some completely new feeling that makes you forget everything, except for the terrible incident with this city”- wrote the artist.

The feelings that Karl Bryullov experienced during the excavations did not leave him. Thus was born the idea of ​​the canvas on historical theme. While working on the plot, the painter studied archaeological and literary sources. “I took this scenery from nature, without retreating at all and without adding, standing with my back to the city gates in order to see part of Vesuvius as main reason» . The models for the characters were the Italians - the descendants of the ancient inhabitants of Pompeii.

At the intersection of classicism and romanticism

In this work, Bryullov shows himself not as a traditional classicist, but as an artist of a romantic direction. Yes, his historical plot dedicated not to one hero, but to the tragedy of an entire people. And as a plot, he chose not an idealized image or idea, but a real historical fact.

True, Bryullov builds the composition of the picture in the traditions of classicism - as a cycle of individual episodes enclosed in a triangle.

On the left side of the picture in the background are several people on the steps. big building tombs of Skaurus. A woman looks directly at the viewer, in whose eyes horror is read. And behind it is an artist with a box of paints on his head: this is Bryullov's self-portrait, experiencing a tragedy along with his characters.

Closer to the viewer married couple with children, who is trying to escape from the lava, and in the foreground a woman hugs her daughters to her ... Next to her is a Christian priest who has already entrusted his fate to God and is therefore calm. In the depths of the picture, we see a pagan Roman priest who is trying to escape by carrying away ritual values. Here Bryullov alludes to the fall of the ancient pagan world of the Romans and the onset of the Christian era.

On the right side of the picture in the background is a horse rider who reared up. And closer to the viewer - the groom, seized with horror, who is trying to hold his bride in his arms (she is wearing a wreath of roses), who has lost consciousness. In the foreground, two sons carry their old father in their arms. And next to them is a young man, begging his mother to get up and run further from this all-consuming element. By the way, this young man is none other than Pliny the Younger, who really escaped and left his memories of the tragedy. Here is an excerpt from his letter to Tacitus: “I look back. A thick black fog, spreading like a stream over the ground, overtook us. All around the night fell, unlike moonless or cloudy: it is so dark only in a locked room with extinguished fires. Women's screams, children's squeaks and the cry of men were heard, some called out to their parents, others to children or wives and tried to recognize them by their voices. Some mourned their death, others the death of loved ones, some, in fear of death, prayed for death; many raised their hands to the gods; the majority explained that there were no gods anywhere, and for the world this was the last eternal night..

There is no main character in the picture, but there are central ones: a golden-haired child near the prostrate body of his deceased mother in a yellow tunic is a symbol of the fall of the old world and the birth of a new one, this is the opposition of life and death - in the best traditions of romanticism.

In this picture, Bryullov also showed himself as an innovator, using two light sources - a hot red light in the background, conveying the feeling of impending lava, and a cold greenish-blue in the foreground, adding additional dramaturgy to the plot.

The bright and rich coloring of this painting also violates classical traditions and allows us to speak of the artist as a romantic.

The triumphal procession of the picture

Karl Bryullov worked on the canvas for six years - from 1827 to 1833.

For the first time the picture was presented to the public in 1833 at an exhibition in Milan - and immediately made a splash. The artist was honored as a Roman triumphant, laudatory reviews were written about the painting in the press. Bryullov was greeted on the street with applause, and during his travels on the borders of the Italian principalities they did not require a passport: it was believed that every Italian already knew him by sight.

In 1834, "The Last Day of Pompeii" was presented on Paris Salon. French criticism was, unlike the Italian, more restrained. But professionals appreciated the work at its true worth, presenting Bryullov with the gold medal of the French Academy of Arts.

The canvas made a sensation in Europe, and was eagerly awaited in Russia. In the same year it was sent to St. Petersburg. Seeing the picture, Nicholas I expressed a desire to personally meet the author, but the artist went on a trip to Greece with Count Vladimir Davydov, and returned to his homeland only in December 1835.

June 11, 1836 in the Round Hall Russian Academy Arts, where the painting "The Last Day of Pompeii" was exhibited, guests of honor, members of the Academy, artists and just art lovers gathered. The author of the canvas, “the great Karl”, was carried into the hall in his arms to the enthusiastic cries of the guests. “Crowds of visitors, one might say, burst into the halls of the Academy to look at Pompeii”, - writes a contemporary and a witness of that success, which no Russian artist knew equal.

The customer and owner of the painting, Anatoly Demidov, presented it to the emperor, and Nicholas I placed it in the Hermitage, where it remained for 60 years. And in 1897 it was transferred to the Russian Museum.

The picture literally excited everyone Russian society And the best minds that time.

Arts peace trophies
You brought into the paternal canopy.
And there was "The Last Day of Pompeii"
For the Russian brush the first day! -

poet Yevgeny Boratynsky wrote about the painting.

Alexander Pushkin also dedicated poems to her:

Vesuvius zev opened - smoke gushed in a club, flames
Widely developed like a battle banner.
The earth worries - from staggering columns
Idols are falling! A people driven by fear
Under the stone rain, under the inflamed ashes,
Crowds, old and young, run out of the city.

Mentions "The Last Day of Pompeii" and Mikhail Lermontov in the novel "Princess Ligovskaya": “If you love art, then I can say very good news: Bryullov’s painting “The Last Day of Pompeii” is going to St. Petersburg. All of Italy knew about her, the French dismantled her.- Lermontov clearly knew about the reviews of the Parisian press.

Russian historian and traveler Alexander Turgenev said that this picture was the glory of Russia and Italy.

And Nikolai Gogol dedicated the painting great article, writing: “His brush contains that poetry that you only feel and can always recognize: our feelings always know and even see features but their words will never tell. Its coloring is so bright, which it has almost never been before, its colors burn and rush into the eyes. They would be unbearable if they appeared to the artist a degree lower than Bryullov, but in him they are clothed in that harmony and breathe that inner music that living objects of nature are filled with”.

We have long known the picture Karla Bryullova THE LAST DAY OF POMPEI, but we did not consider it in detail. I wanted to know its history and examine the canvas in detail.

K. Bryullov. The last day of Pompeii. 1830-1833

BACKGROUND OF THE PICTURE.

In 1827, the young Russian artist Karl Bryullov arrived in Pompeii. He did not know that this trip would lead him to the pinnacle of creativity. The sight of Pompeii stunned him. He walked all the nooks and crannies of the city, touched the walls, rough from boiling lava, and, perhaps, he had the idea to paint a picture of last day Pompeii.

From the idea of ​​the picture to its completion will take a long six years. Bryullov begins with the study historical sources. He reads the letters of Pliny the Younger, an eyewitness to the events, to the Roman historian Tacitus.

In search of authenticity, the artist also turns to materials archaeological sites, he will depict some figures in those poses in which the skeletons of the victims of Vesuvius were found in hardened lava.

Almost all items were painted by Bryullov from authentic items stored in the Neapolitan Museum. The surviving drawings, sketches and sketches show how persistently the artist sought the most expressive composition. And even when the sketch of the future canvas was ready, Bryullov regroups the scene about a dozen times, changes gestures, movements, poses.

In 1830 the artist began work on a large canvas. He wrote at such a limit of spiritual tension that it happened that he was literally taken out of the studio in his arms. Finally, by the middle of 1833, the canvas was ready.

Eruption of Vesuvius.

Let's take a short digression to get to know historical details events that we see in the picture.

The eruption of Vesuvius began on the afternoon of August 24, 79 and lasted about a day, as evidenced by some of the surviving manuscripts of the "Letters" of Pliny the Younger. It led to the death of three cities - Pompeii, Herculaneum, Stabia and several small villages and villas.

Vesuvius wakes up and brings down all kinds of products of volcanic activity on the surrounding space. Tremors, ash flakes, stones falling from the sky - all this took the inhabitants of Pompeii by surprise.

People tried to hide in houses, but died from suffocation or under the ruins. Someone has died in in public places- in theaters, markets, forums, temples, someone - on the streets of the city, someone - already beyond its borders. However, the vast majority of residents still managed to leave the city.

During the excavations, it turned out that everything in the cities was preserved as it was before the eruption. Streets, houses with full furnishings, the remains of people and animals that did not have time to escape were found under many meters of ash. The force of the eruption was such that the ashes from it flew even to Egypt and Syria.

Of the 20,000 inhabitants of Pompeii, about 2,000 died in the buildings and on the streets. Most of the inhabitants left the city before the disaster, but the remains of the dead are found outside the city. That's why exact number the dead cannot be estimated.

Among those who died from the eruption was Pliny the Elder, scientific interest and out of a desire to help people suffering from the eruption, he tried to approach Vesuvius on a ship and found himself in one of the centers of the disaster - near Stabia.

Pliny the Younger describes what happened on the 25th at Miseno. In the morning, a black cloud of ash began to approach the city. Residents fled in horror from the city to the seashore (probably, the inhabitants of the dead cities also tried to do the same). The crowd running along the road soon found itself in complete darkness, screams, crying children were heard.

Those who fell were trampled down by those who followed. I had to shake off the ashes all the time, otherwise the person instantly fell asleep, and there was no way for those who sat down to rest to rise. This went on for several hours, but in the afternoon the ash cloud began to dissipate.

Pliny returned to Miseno, although the earthquakes continued. By evening, the eruption began to subside, and by the evening of the 26th everything had subsided. Pliny the Younger was lucky, but his uncle is an outstanding scientist, author natural history Pliny the Elder - died during the eruption in Pompeii.

They say that he was let down by the curiosity of a naturalist, he stayed in the city for observations. sun over dead cities- Pompeii, Stabia, Herculaneum and Octavianum - it seemed only on August 27th. Vesuvius has erupted to this day at least eight more times. Moreover, in 1631, in 1794 and 1944 the eruption was quite strong.

DESCRIPTION.

Black darkness hung over the earth. A blood-red glow paints the sky near the horizon, and a blinding flash of lightning momentarily breaks the darkness. In the face of death, the essence of the human soul is exposed.

Here the young Pliny persuades his mother, who has fallen to the ground, to gather the remnants of her strength and try to escape.

Here are the sons carrying the old man on their shoulders, trying to quickly deliver the precious burden to a safe place.

Raising his hand towards the crumbling skies, the man is ready to protect his loved ones with his chest.

Nearby is a kneeling mother with children. With what inexpressible tenderness they huddle together!

Above them is a Christian shepherd with a cross around his neck, with a torch and a censer in his hands. With calm fearlessness, he looks at the flaming skies and the crumbling statues of the former gods.

And in the depths of the canvas, he is opposed by a pagan priest, running in fear with an altar under his arm. This somewhat naive allegory proclaims the advantages Christian religion over the outgoing pagan.

A man who raised his hand to heaven is trying to protect his family. Next to him is a kneeling mother with children who seek protection and help from her.

On the left in the background is a crowd of fugitives on the steps of the tomb of Skaurus. In it, we notice an artist saving the most precious thing - a box with brushes and paints. This is a self-portrait of Karl Bryullov.

But in his eyes, not so much the horror of death as close attention artist, exacerbated by a terrible sight. He carries on his head the most precious thing - a box with paints and other painting accessories. It seems that he slowed down his steps and tries to remember the picture that unfolded before him. Yu.P. Samoilova served as a model for a girl with a jug.

We can see it in other images. This and a woman smashed to death, sprawled on the pavement, where next to her is a living child - in the center of the canvas; and a mother attracting her daughters to her, in the left corner of the picture.

The young man holds his beloved, in his eyes there is despair and hopelessness.

Many art historians consider the frightened child lying near the dead mother to be the central characters on the canvas. Here we see grief, despair, hope, the death of the old world, and perhaps the birth of a new one. This is a confrontation between life and death.

A noble woman tried to escape on a fast chariot, but no one can escape Kara, everyone must be punished for their sins. On the other hand, we see a frightened child who against all odds, he survived to revive the fallen race. But, what is his further fate, of course, we do not know, and we can only hope for a happy outcome.

The baby mourning her is an allegory of the new world, a symbol of the inexhaustible power of life.

How much pain, fear and despair in the eyes of people.

"The Last Day of Pompeii" convinces that main value in the world is a man. To the destructive forces Bryullov contrasts nature spiritual greatness and the beauty of man.

Brought up on the aesthetics of classicism, the artist strives to give his heroes ideal features and plastic perfection, although it is known that residents of Rome posed for many of them.

Seeing this work for the first time, any viewer admires its colossal scale: on a canvas with an area of ​​​​more than thirty square meters, the artist tells the story of many lives united by a catastrophe. It seems that not a city is depicted on the plane of the canvas, but the whole world, which is experiencing death.

HISTORY OF THE PICTURE

In the autumn of 1833, the painting appeared at an exhibition in Milan and caused an explosion of delight and admiration. An even greater triumph awaited Bryullov at home. Exhibited in the Hermitage and then at the Academy of Arts, the painting became a subject of patriotic pride. She was enthusiastically welcomed by A.S. Pushkin:

Vesuvius zev opened - smoke gushed in a club - flame
Widely developed like a battle banner.
The earth worries - from staggering columns
Idols are falling! A people driven by fear
Crowds, old and young, under inflamed ashes,
Under the stone rain runs out of the hail.

Really, world fame Bryullov's painting forever destroyed dismissive attitude to Russian artists, which existed even in Russia itself. In the eyes of contemporaries, the work of Karl Bryullov was proof of the originality of the national artistic genius.

Bryullov was compared with the greats by Italian masters. Poets dedicated poems to him. He was greeted with applause in the street and in the theater. A year later, the French Academy of Arts awarded the artist a gold medal for the painting after her participation in the Paris Salon.

In 1834, the painting "The Last Day of Pompeii" was sent to St. Petersburg. Alexander Ivanovich Turgenev said that this picture was the glory of Russia and Italy. E. A. Baratynsky composed on this occasion famous aphorism: "The last day of Pompeii became the first day for the Russian brush!".

Nicholas I honored the artist with a personal audience and awarded Charles with a laurel wreath, after which the artist was called "Charlemagne".

Anatoly Demidov presented the painting to Nicholas I, who exhibited it at the Academy of Arts as a guide for beginner painters. After the opening of the Russian Museum in 1895, the canvas moved there, and the general public gained access to it.

"The Death of Pompeii" can be called one of the little-known masterpieces of Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky. Historical event, the tragedy of the ancient city, inspired the painter to approach the plot with new thoughts.

Artist

Ivan Aivazovsky, or Hovhannes Ayvazyan, was and remains one of the most famous marine painters Russia. His seascapes loved and appreciated all over the world. The works are exhibited at the popular Sotheby's and Christie's auctions for millions of sterling.

Born in 1817, Ivan Konstantinovich lived for eighty-three years and died peaceful death in a dream.

Hovhannes was born into a merchant family of Armenians from Galicia. later he recalled that his father was the first to move away from his roots and even tried to pronounce his last name in the Polish manner. Ivan was proud of his educated parent, who knew several languages.

From his birth, Aivazovsky lived in Feodosia. His talents for art were early noticed by the architect Yakov Koch. It was he who began to teach Ivan painting.

The mayor of Sevastopol, seeing the gift of the future master, also took part in his formation as an artist. The young talent, thanks to the efforts, was sent to study for free in St. Petersburg. Like many other famous Russian artists, Aivazovsky was a native of the Art Academy. It largely influenced the preferences of the classic marine painter.

Style

The Art Academy in St. Petersburg helped shape Aivazovsky's style, thanks to his studies with Johann Gross, Philip Tanner, Alexander Sauerweid.

Having drawn "Calm", Ivan Konstantinovich in 1837 receives a gold medal and the right to travel to Europe.

After that, Aivazovsky returns to the Crimea, to his homeland. There he painted seascapes for two years, and also helped the army in battles against the enemy. One of his paintings of that period was bought by Emperor Nicholas I.

Upon his return to Petersburg, he was honored title of nobility. In addition, he acquires such eminent friends as Karl Bryullov and composer Mikhail Glinka.

wandering

Since 1840, Aivazovsky's pilgrimage to Italy began. On the way to the capital, Ivan and his friend Vasily Sternberg stop by Venice. There they meet another representative of the Russian elite, Gogol. which have already become famous in Russian Empire, visited many Italian cities, visited Florence, Rome. I stayed in Sorrento for a long time.

For many months, Aivazovsky stayed with his brother, who became a monk, on the island of St. Lazarus. There he also spoke with the English poet George Byron.

The work "Chaos" was bought from him by Pope Gregory the Sixteenth. Critics favored Aivazovsky, and the Parisian art academy even gave him a medal of merit.

In 1842, the marine painter leaves Italy. After crossing Switzerland and the Rhine, he travels to Holland, later to Great Britain. On the way back he visits Paris, Spain and Portugal. Four years later he is back in Russia.

Aivazovsky, living in St. Petersburg, became an honorary professor of the academy both in this city and in Paris, Rome, Stuttgart, Florence and Amsterdam. He continued to write marine paintings. He has more than 6,000 landscapes to his credit.

From 1845 he lived in Feodosia, where he founded his own school, helped create a gallery, initiated the construction railway. After death, the unfinished painting "The Explosion of a Turkish Ship" remained.

famous paintings

Aivazovsky's paintings were dearly loved by representatives of all classes of the Russian Empire, and later Soviet Union. Almost in every modern family, at least one reproduction of Ivan Konstantinovich is kept at home.

His name has become familiar highest quality among the mariners. The most popular are the following works of the artist:

• "The Ninth Wave".
• "Pushkin's Farewell to the Sea", which he wrote together with Repin.
• "Rainbow".
• « Moonlight night on the Bosphorus.
• Among the masterpieces that Aivazovsky wrote is "The Death of Pompeii."
• "View of Constantinople and the Bosporus".
• "Black Sea".

These pictures even appeared on postage stamps. They were copied, embroidered with a cross and stitch.

Confusion

It is interesting that many confuse the "Death of Pompeii". The picture, who painted it, is not known to everyone, has nothing to do with Bryullov's canvas. His work is called "The Last Day of Pompeii".

It was written by Karl Pavlovich in 1833. It depicts ancient people fleeing from an erupting volcano. In Bryullov, the inhabitants of Pompeii are locked in the city itself. "The Death of Pompeii", the description of the painting is very different, conveys a completely different idea.

Aivazovsky's landscape was painted in 1889, much later than his predecessor. It is likely that, being a friend of Bryullov, the marine painter could be inspired by the same chosen theme of the tragedy of the ancient period.

History of the painting

The most uncharacteristic work of Aivazovsky is considered to be The Death of Pompeii. The painting was created in 1889. He took a plot from history as a basis. What happened to the city is still considered one of the biggest natural disasters in the world. Pompeii, once a beautiful ancient settlement, was located near Naples, near an active volcano. In 79, an eruption began, which claimed hundreds of lives. Description of the painting by Aivazovsky helps to convey all these events.

If Bryullov showed in his canvas what the city itself and the people inside it could look like, then Aivazovsky focused on the sea.

"Death of Pompeii". Picture: who wrote and what he wanted to say

Being a marine painter, Ivan Konstantinovich focused on conveying the plot outside the city. History already tells us how the death of Pompeii ends. The picture is written in very gloomy scarlet tones, symbolizing everything human lives buried alive under a layer of lava.

The central figure of the canvas is the sea, along which ships sail. In the distance you can see the city illuminated by lava. The sky is dark with smoke.

Despite the horror of this event, Aivazovsky gives a certain hope for a brighter future, showing the ship, crowded with escaped people.

Ivan Konstantinovich wanted to convey the despair of those who saw the death of Pompeii. The painting is not focused on the faces of dying people. Nevertheless, all the tragedy and horror of the situation seems to be spoken by a hot sea. Crimson, black and yellow colors predominate on the canvas.

In the central plan are two large ships that are fighting sea ​​waves. A few more can be seen in the distance, hurrying to leave the place of death, in which the inhabitants of the city, captured on the canvas “The Death of Pompeii”, forever froze.

If you look closely, at the top, in the rings of smoke, there is an erupting volcano, from which pour on ancient temples and lava river houses. Aivazovsky strengthened by adding throughout the picture a lot of black dots of ash settling on the water.

View picture

"The Death of Pompeii" - a painting painted oil paints, on an ordinary canvas measuring 128 by 218 cm, is stored in Rostov.

It is an integral part of the collection. Visitors are welcome here every day from 10.00 am to 18.00 pm. The museum is closed only on Tuesdays. Address: Pushkinskaya street, 115.

The cost of a regular ticket without benefits will cost the visitor 100 rubles. Children who do not yet go to school will need to pay 10 rubles. Students can pay admission ticket 25 rub. Students pay 50 rubles, and pensioners 60 rubles.

The museum collection also contains other paintings by Aivazovsky, such as "Sea" and "Moonlight Night". Nevertheless, the pearl of the collection is the “Death of Pompeii”. The description of the painting gives a clear idea of ​​how formidable nature can be.