The author's work of Karl Pavlovich Bryullov "The Last Day of Pompeii" is one of the most famous paintings Russian history painting XIX century. At the heart of the picture is a scene that demonstrates the sad fate of the inhabitants of the majestic city of Pompeii in 79 BC, when the dormant volcano Vesuvius woke up and blew the city off the face of the Earth with its eruption.
Bryullov, in order to convey all the nuances of this historical event, went to the excavations of the destroyed Pompeii, and all the details and objects that are depicted on the canvas have a true essence, as they were completely transferred from the originals located in the Neapolitan Museum.
When creating the canvas, the author chose the main bright red and black colors of paints, which give the picture all the horror of real ongoing events. A bright flash of lightning illuminates the city and its inhabitants, which is tied in the shadow of ash and lava spewing from the vent of Vesuvius. People who are overwhelmed by the current situation do not know what to do, and their panic images convey this perfectly.
Bryullov managed to convey the tragic fate of the inhabitants and their inevitable death. In every glance of the images of people, one can see the fear of future suffering and the inevitable course of events. Some of them look to the sky, hoping that their true god can save them and beg for mercy. Each image in the picture is unique. A mother hugs her two small children, trying to protect them from lightning, the young guys help the old man hide in a shelter and carry him on their shoulders, the guy tries to bring the young lady to his senses and together with her wants to find a place to run away.
In the center of the picture, the author painted a woman who could not escape, and her baby, screaming with all her might, is trying to reach her cold body, which has left life. With every openly the whole hopelessness of this situation becomes more understandable - no one but the people themselves can help them, and their lack of concentration and unpreparedness make them fall into fear and flee in unknown directions from the impending fiery lava.
The author was able to convey the spiritual beauty of a person who is trying to resist the terrifying forces of nature. Even despite the current situation, some residents are trying with all their might to help each other, first of all, remaining a person, a “Man” with a capital letter.
Description 2
It is known that Bryullov himself visited Pompeii, the city that was destroyed by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, and during his stay there he made many sketches and sketches for his future picture. He was struck by the destructive power of nature and what it is capable of. Under this influence, he was able to truly create a masterpiece of world culture and painting.
On this canvas dark gloomy colors predominate: brown, black, dirty yellow. Blood red skies do not bode well. The volcano itself is not visible to viewers. Its menacing outline blackens in the background. When creating bubbling lava, Karl Petrovich Bryullov uses a bright red color so that the depicted splashes of bubbling slurry from the vent of the volcano stand out against the dark sky.
Buildings are collapsing all around. Once magnificent statues of girls fall on the unfortunate inhabitants of Pompeii. The stone blocks that made up the buildings also tend to fall to the ground. Next to the collapsing buildings on the right edge of the canvas, you can see a man on a horse. The frightened animal tries to get rid of the interfering rider in order to rush away from danger. There was a crowd around the horse. Young people are trying to endure the old man and protect him from the impending natural disaster. Nearby, another man is trying to help an elderly lady to stand up. Her face shows humility, acceptance of inevitable death.
In the very center lies a dead beauty. Her jewels are scattered around her lifeless body, and her luxurious robes are torn. Using this image, Bryullov once again proves the futility material wealth. A frightened child lies on the girl. He does not understand why mom still does not get up. The left side of the picture shows people trying to save things. Frightened, young men and women try to hide with their hands from an impending natural disaster.
Despite all the gloom of the picture, people turned out to be very alive. It seems that they are about to fuss, run around the picture in the hope of saving their lives.
At the mention of the name of Karl Petrovich Bryullov, many recall such masterpieces of Russian painting as “Italian Noon”, “Horsewoman”, portraits famous people. For plots, the artist turned to literary works(for example, "Fortune-telling Svetlana" based on Zhukovsky's ballad "Svetlana"), and to myths ("Narcissus looking into the water") and history ("Death of Inessa de Castro"). The painting “The Last Day of Pompeii” also belongs to the latter genre.
Composition description of the painting by Bryullov The Last Day of Pompeii
The author uses rather bold colors in order to show the picture as more intimidating as it may have been in reality. terrible tragedy, which claimed many lives, a city and an entire culture. Looking at the picture, we feel its depth and the space of what is happening, as if we are inside the picture and experience this story together with the inhabitants of Pompeii.
The painting depicts many people whose lives have already been doomed. In the left corner we can see the face of the author himself and three times Bryullov's beloved, Countess Samoilova is depicted - a girl with a jug, a prostrate woman on the pavement with a child and a woman in the left corner hugging her children.
It took the author 3 years to fully think through and depict all his ideas. The picture very clearly prescribes the diverse behavior of people in the face of impending death. Sons who carry off their father. A mother on her knees and her children nearby, who seek her help. A young man persuading his mother to get up and continue running. A priest, boldly and calmly looking at the impending horror and how the fire that came from heaven washes away his gods. A crowd of fugitives. The artist collecting his tools is Bryullov's self-portrait. A reclining woman in the center of the picture and a baby who mourns the loss of her mother, not realizing the imminence of her inevitable death.
On background, the artist depicts the volcano itself in great detail. Fire and lava, which, as it were, fall on people from heaven. Lightning tearing the sky and human lives in half.
Bryullov reminds us with this picture that the main thing in this world is a person and his loved ones. How at one moment a random person can become a victim of chance and lose everything in seconds, including relatives, friends and even his own own life, while being absolutely powerless against the elements.
Description of the mood of the painting The Last Day of Pompeii
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The picture reflects this idea as clearly as possible. "The last day of Pompeii" based on real historical facts.
A city near modern Naples was destroyed by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. This is also evidenced by the manuscripts of ancient historians, in particular, Pliny the Younger. He says that Pompeii was famous throughout Italy for its mild climate, healing air and divine nature. Patricians built villas here, emperors and generals came to rest, turning the city into an ancient version of Rublyovka. It is authentically known that there was a theater, plumbing and Roman baths. August 24, 79 CE e. people heard a deafening roar and saw how pillars of fire, ash and stones began to break out of the depths of Vesuvius. The catastrophe was preceded by an earthquake the day before, so most of the people managed to leave the city. The rest did not escape from the ashes that reached Egypt and the volcanic lava. A terrible tragedy occurred in a matter of seconds - houses collapsed on the heads of the inhabitants, and meter-long layers of volcanic precipitation covered everyone without exception. Panic broke out in Pompeii, but there was nowhere to run. It is this moment that is depicted on the canvas by K. Bryullov, who saw the streets live ancient city, even under a layer of petrified ash, remaining as they were before the eruption. Artist long time collected materials, visited Pompeii several times, examined houses, walked the streets, made sketches of the body prints of people who died under a layer of hot ash. Many figures are depicted in the picture in the same poses - a mother with children, a woman who fell from a chariot and a young couple.
The work was written for 3 years - from 1830 to 1833. The master was so imbued with the tragedy of human civilization that he was taken out of the workshop several times in a semi-conscious state. Interestingly, the themes of destruction and human self-sacrifice are connected in the picture. The first moment you will see in the fire that engulfed the city, the falling statues, the enraged horse and the murdered woman who fell from the chariot. The contrast is achieved by the fleeing townspeople who don't care about her.
It is noteworthy that the master depicted not a crowd in the usual sense of the word, but people, each of whom tells his own story.
Mothers hugging their children, who do not quite understand what is happening, want to shelter them from this catastrophe. The sons, carrying their father in their arms, who looks madly at the sky and closes his eyes from the ashes with his hand, try to save him at the cost of their lives. A young man holding his dead bride in his arms does not seem to believe that she is no longer alive. The mad horse, which is trying to throw off its rider, seems to convey that nature has not spared anyone. A Christian shepherd in red robes, who does not let go of the censer, fearlessly and terrifyingly calmly looks at the falling statues. pagan gods, as if he sees God's punishment in this. The image of the priest, who, having taken a golden cup and artifacts from the temple, is striking, leaves the city, cowardly looking around. The faces of people are mostly beautiful and reflect not horror, but calmness.
One of them in the background is a self-portrait of Bryullov himself. He clutches the most valuable thing - a box of paints. Pay attention to his look, there is no fear of death in him, there is only admiration for the opened spectacle. The master seems to have stopped and remembers a deadly beautiful moment.
Remarkably, there is no main character on the canvas, there is only a world divided by the elements into two parts. Characters diverge on the proscenium, opening the doors to volcanic hell, and a young woman in a golden dress lying on the ground is a symbol of the death of the sophisticated culture of Pompeii.
Bryullov knew how to work with chiaroscuro, modeling voluminous and lively images. Important role clothes and draperies play here. The robes are depicted in rich colors - red, orange, green, ocher, light blue and blue. Contrasted with them is deathly pale skin, which is illuminated by the glow of lightning.
Continues the idea of dividing the picture with light. He is no longer a way of conveying what is happening, but becomes a living hero. last day Pompeii". Lightning flashes yellow, even lemon, cold color, turning the townspeople into living marble statues, and blood-red lava flows over a peaceful paradise. The glow of the volcano sets off the panorama of the dying city in the background of the picture. Black clouds of dust, from which not saving rain pours, but destructive ash, as if they say that no one can be saved. The dominant color in the painting is red. And this is not the one cheerful color which is meant to give life. Bryullov red is bloody, as if reflecting the biblical Armageddon. The clothes of the heroes, the background of the picture seem to merge with the glow of the volcano. Flashes of lightning illuminate only the foreground.
"The Last Day of Pompeii" is terrible and beautiful. It shows how powerless a person is in front of an angry nature. The talent of the artist is amazing, who managed to convey all the fragility human life. The picture silently screams that there is nothing in the world more important than human tragedy. A thirty-meter monumental canvas opens up to everyone those pages of history that no one wants to repeat. ... Of the 20 thousand inhabitants of Pompeii, 2000 people died on the streets of the city that day. How many of them remained buried under the rubble of houses is unknown to this day.
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The famous painting by Karl Bryullov "The Last Day of Pompeii" was painted in 1830-1833. On this epic canvas, the painter captured the death of the city of Pompeii due to the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD.
In search of authenticity, Bryullov visited the excavations of the deceased city. The figures and faces of people were created by the painter from nature, from the inhabitants of Rome. Almost all the items depicted in the picture, the artist wrote from genuine things stored in the Neapolitan Museum.
Bryullov depicts a truly infernal picture. In the distance, a volcano is burning, from the depths of which streams of fiery lava are spreading in all directions. The reflections of the flame from the burning lava illuminate the back of the canvas with a reddish glow. A flash of lightning, cutting through a cloud of ash and burning, illuminates the front of the picture.
In his painting, Bryullov uses a bold for his time color scheme. Most close attention draws the painter to aerial perspective– he manages to create a feeling of deep space.
Before us is a whole sea of human suffering. In the hour of real tragedy, they are exposed human souls. Here is a man protecting his loved ones, desperately raising his hand, as if trying to stop the elements. The mother, passionately embracing her children, looks at the sky with a plea for mercy. Here are the sons on their shoulders trying to carry the weak old father away from danger. A young boy persuades his fallen mother to gather strength and run away. In the center of the picture - dead woman and a baby reaching for the lifeless body of its mother.
The painting “The Last Day of Pompeii” reminds the viewer that the main value of the world is a person. His physical beauty and spiritual greatness the artist contrasts the destructive forces of nature. The picture caused an explosion of admiration and admiration, both in Italy and in Russia. The work was enthusiastically welcomed by A.S. Pushkin and N.V. Gogol.
In addition to the description of the painting by K. P. Bryullov “The Last Day of Pompeii”, our website has collected many other descriptions of paintings by various artists, which can be used both in preparation for writing an essay on a painting, and simply for a more complete acquaintance with the work of famous masters of the past .
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Plot
On the canvas - one of the most powerful volcanic eruptions in the history of mankind. In 79, Vesuvius, who had been silent for so long before 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 Mizena, which survived during the disaster: scenes. The chariots, which we dared to take out, shook so violently back and forth, although they stood on the ground, that we could not hold them, 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; certainly the land expanded considerably, and some sea animals were on the sand ... Finally, the terrible darkness began to dissipate little by little, like a cloud of smoke; daylight reappeared, and even the sun came out, although its light was gloomy, as it 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 with snow.
Pompeii today
A crushing 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 set exact number the dead did not succeed, the number goes to thousands. Among them are mostly slaves, whom the owners left to guard the property, as well as the elderly and the sick, who did not have time to leave. There were also those who hoped to wait out the elements 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 a panic, the elements will not spare either the rich or the poor. And what is remarkable is that Bryullov used one model to write people of different classes. We are talking about Yulia Samoilova, her face is found on the canvas four times: a woman with a jug on her head on the left side of the canvas; a dead woman 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 was looking for faces for the rest of the heroes on the Roman streets.
It is surprising in this picture and 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 picture; but Mr. Bryullov neglected this remedy. Genius inspired him with a bold idea, as happy as it was inimitable: to illuminate the entire front of the picture with a quick, minute and whitish brilliance of lightning, cutting through a thick cloud of ash that enveloped the city, while the light from the eruption, with difficulty breaking through the deep darkness, casts reddish penumbra into the background, ”the newspapers wrote then.
Context
By the time Bryullov decided to write the death of the Pompeii, he was considered talented, but still promising. For approval in the status of a master, serious work was needed.
At that time in Italy, the theme of Pompeii was popular. Firstly, excavations were carried out very actively, and secondly, there were a couple more eruptions of Vesuvius. This could not but be reflected in culture: on the stages of many Italian theaters, Pacchini's opera L "Ultimo giorno di Pompeia" was successfully staged. There is no doubt that the artist saw her, and maybe more than once.
The idea to write the death of the city came in Pompeii itself, which Bryullov visited in 1827 at the initiative of his brother, the architect Alexander. It took 6 years to collect the material. The artist was scrupulous in details. So, things that fell out of the box, jewelry and other various items in the picture were copied from those found by archaeologists 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, is found four times on the canvas. For the picture, 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 a black boy." Bryullov, 1832-1834
They met in Italy in 1827. Bryullov adopted the experience of senior masters there and looked for inspiration, while Samoilova burned through her life. In Russia, she had already managed to get a divorce, she had no children, and for an overly stormy bohemian life, Nicholas I asked her to move away from the court.
When the work on the painting was completed and the Italian public saw the canvas, a boom began on Bryullov. It was a success! Everyone at a meeting with the artist considered it an honor to say hello; when he appeared in theaters, everyone stood up, and at the door of the house where he lived, or the restaurant where he dined, many people always gathered to greet him. Since the Renaissance, not a single artist in Italy has been the object of such worship as Karl Bryullov.
In the homeland of the painter, a triumph also awaited. The general euphoria about the picture becomes clear after reading the lines of Baratynsky:
He brought peaceful trophies
With you in the father's shade.
And there was "The Last Day of Pompeii"
For the Russian brush, the first day.
half conscious creative life Karl Bryullov spent in Europe. For the first time he went abroad after graduation Imperial Academy arts in St. Petersburg to improve skills. And where, if not in Italy, to 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-figured 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.
An interrupted date (Water is already running over the edge). 1827
Bryullov wrote simultaneously with Delacroix and Ingres. It was a time when the theme of the fate of huge human masses came to the fore in painting. Therefore, it is not surprising that Bryullov chose the story of the death of Pompeii for his program canvas.
Bryullov undermined his health while painting St. Isaac's Cathedral
The picture produced on Nicholas I such strong impression 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, Krylov.
Bryullov's frescoes in St. Isaac's Cathedral
The last years the artist spent in Italy, trying to save his health, undermined during the painting of St. Isaac's Cathedral. Hours of long hard work in a damp unfinished cathedral had a bad effect on the heart and aggravated rheumatism.
The Russian artist Karl Bryullov was undoubtedly quite respected for his craftsmanship long before the creation of this masterpiece. Nevertheless, it was "The Last Day of Pompeii" that brought Bryullov, without exaggeration, worldwide fame. Why did the disaster picture have such an impact on the public, and what secrets does it still hide from the audience?
Why Pompeii?
At the end of August 79 AD, as a result of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, the cities of Pompeii, Herculaneum, Stabiae and many small villages became graves for several thousand local residents. real archaeological excavations areas that have sunk into oblivion began only in 1748, that is, 51 years before the birth of Karl Bryullov himself. It is clear that archaeologists worked not for one day, but for several decades. Thanks to this circumstance, the artist managed to personally visit the excavations and wander through the ancient Roman streets already freed from the solidified lava. Moreover, at that moment it was Pompeii that turned out to be the most cleared.
Together with Bryullov, Countess Yulia Samoilova, for whom Karl Pavlovich had warm feelings, also walked there. Later, she will play a huge role in creating a masterpiece of a lover, and even more than one. Bryullov and Samoilova had the opportunity to see the buildings of the ancient city, restored household items, the remains dead people. All this left a deep and vivid imprint on the subtle nature of the artist. It was in 1827.
Disappearance of characters
Impressed, Bryullov almost immediately set to work, moreover, very seriously and thoroughly. He visited the vicinity of Vesuvius more than once, making sketches for the future canvas. In addition, the artist got acquainted with the manuscripts that have survived to this day, including letters from an eyewitness to the catastrophe, the ancient Roman politician and writer Pliny the Younger, whose uncle Pliny the Elder died during the eruption. Of course, such work required a lot of time. Therefore, the preparation for writing a masterpiece took Bryullov more than 5 years. The canvas itself, with an area of more than 30 square meters, he created in less than a year. From exhaustion, the artist sometimes could not walk, he was literally carried out of the workshop. But even with such careful preparation and hard work on the masterpiece, Bryullov kept changing original intention in one way or another. For example, he did not use a sketch that showed a thief removing jewelry from a fallen woman.
Identical faces
One of the main mysteries that can be found on the canvas is the presence in the picture of several identical female faces. This is a girl with a jug on her head, a woman lying on the ground with a child, as well as a mother hugging her daughters, and a person with her husband and children. Why did Bryullov draw them so similar? The fact is that the same lady served as kind for all these characters - the same Countess Samoilova. Despite the fact that the artist painted other people in the picture from ordinary residents of Italy, apparently, Samoilov Bryullov, overcome by certain feelings, simply liked to write.
In addition, in the crowd depicted on the canvas, you can find the painter himself. He portrayed himself as he was, an artist with a box filled with art supplies on his head. This method, as a kind of autograph, was used by many Italian masters. And Bryullov spent many years in Italy and it was there that he studied the art of painting.
Christian and pagan
Among the characters of the masterpiece there is also an adherent Christian faith, which is easily recognizable by the cross on his chest. A mother with two daughters huddles up to him, as if seeking protection from the old man. However, he painted Bryullov and a pagan priest, who quickly runs away, not paying any attention to the frightened townspeople. Undoubtedly, Christianity at that time was persecuted and it is not known for certain whether any of the adherents of this faith could then be in Pompeii. But Bryullov, trying to adhere to the documentary authenticity of events, introduced into his work and hidden meaning. By means of the aforementioned priests, he showed not only the cataclysm itself, but the disappearance of the old and the birth of the new.
