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 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 at the Louvre in Paris. 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 will succumb 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. So, its historical plot is dedicated not to one hero, but to the tragedy of an entire nation. 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”.

K. P. Bryullov
The last day of Pompeii. 1830-1833
Canvas, oil. 465.5 × 651 cm
State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg

The Last Day of Pompeii is a painting by Karl Pavlovich Bryullov, written in 1830-1833. The painting was an unprecedented success in Italy, was awarded a gold medal in Paris, and in 1834 was delivered to St. Petersburg.

For the first time, Karl Bryullov visited Naples and Vesuvius in July 1827, in the fourth year of his stay in Italy. He did not have a specific purpose of travel, but there were several reasons for undertaking this journey. In 1824, the painter's brother, Alexander Bryullov, visited Pompeii and, despite the restraint of his nature, enthusiastically spoke about his impressions. The second reason for visiting was the hot summer months and the almost always accompanying outbreaks of fever in Rome. The third reason was the recently rapidly emerging friendship with Princess Yulia Samoilova, who was also on her way to Naples.

The spectacle of the dead city stunned Bryullov. He stayed in it for four days, going around all the nooks and crannies more than once. “Going to Naples that summer, neither Bryullov himself nor his companion knew that this unexpected journey would lead the artist to the very high peak his work - the creation of a monumental historical canvas“The Last Day of Pompeii,” writes art critic Galina Leontyeva.

In 1828, during his next visit to Pompeii, Bryullov made many sketches for a future painting about the famous eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD. e. and the destruction of this city. The canvas was exhibited in Rome, where it received rave reviews from critics, and forwarded to Paris Louvre. This work was the first painting by the artist that aroused such interest abroad. Walter Scott called the picture "unusual, epic."

Classic theme thanks to artistic vision Bryullov and the abundant play of chiaroscuro, resulted in a work that is several steps ahead of the neoclassical style. "The Last Day of Pompeii" perfectly characterizes classicism in Russian painting, mixed with idealism, increased interest in the open air and the passionate love of that time for such historical subjects. The image of the artist in the left corner of the picture is a self-portrait of the author.

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The canvas also depicts Countess Yulia Pavlovna Samoilova three times - a woman with a jug on her head, standing on a dais on the left side of the canvas; a woman who has crashed to death, sprawled on the pavement, and next to her a living child (both, presumably, were thrown out of a broken chariot) - in the center of the canvas; and a mother attracting her daughters to her, in the left corner of the picture.

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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!". A. S. Pushkin also responded with a poem: “Idols are falling! A people driven by fear…” (this line was banned by censors). In Russia, Bryullov's canvas was perceived not as a compromise, but as an exclusively innovative work.

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.

This is an article by a young talented lirushka under the nickname , an employee of the Murom Historical and Art Museum. The article is titled "Masterpiece and Tragedy or the History of One Painting" and is dedicated to ingenious picture Karl Bryullov "The Last Day of Pompeii".

I really liked the article, I quoted it, but quotations are rarely read, and with the permission of the author, I put it in its entirety in this post, slightly embellished with reproductions of the picture and musical accompaniment.

Read it, I assure you, you won't regret it...

Edwin Martin - Vivaldi Tosco Fantasy

Passing through the halls of the Murom Gallery, the guests of Murom often freeze in amazement, at one nondescript at first glance exhibit. This is a simple black white drawing in a regular frame behind glass. It would seem, why does it attract visitors to the museum so much? However, peering into his faded features, it is difficult to contain an involuntary sigh of admiration. On the yellowish paper of the exhibit, a story familiar to many from childhood is depicted. famous painting. Before the guests, a sketch of Karl Bryullov for his famous canvas"The Last Day of Pompeii" is one of the brightest pearls of the Murom Gallery!

A rare museum can boast of such an acquisition in its collection. Sometimes this sketch surprises even guests from Moscow and St. Petersburg. And they are captivated not only by the uniqueness of the old drawing, but also by the attraction of the tragic plot, conveyed by the genius of the artist.

And indeed, this small yellowed leaf tells the audience not only about terrible disaster antiquity, but also how the greatest canvas of Russian painting was created.

ON THE EVE OF THE TRAGEDY.

The talented brush of Bryullov revealed to us one of the pictures of the terrible tragedy ancient world. For two fateful days, August 24 and 25, 79 AD, several Roman cities ceased to exist at once - Pompeii, Herculaneum, Stabiae and Octavianum. And the reason for this was the awakening of the volcano Vesuvius, at the foot of which these settlements are located.

People have long and appreciated the high, incomparable fertility of volcanic soils and began to cultivate them from time immemorial. Scientists have at their disposal written sources that even more than two thousand years ago, rich harvests gathered around Vesuvius and on its slopes.

At the beginning of the 1st century Vesuvius was covered in a dense forest with wild grapes. At its top there was an overgrown cup-shaped depression - traces of an ancient crater, preserved after a 300-year dormant period of the volcano. In this crater in 72, Spartacus was hiding with rebellious slaves. 3,000 soldiers, led by Praetor Clodius Pulker, were sent to search for him. However, Spartacus eluded them and broke out onto the plain surrounding the volcano from the north.

Volcanic ashes and tuffs, which covered the gentle slopes of Vesuvius and its environs like a cloak, made the lands around it extraordinarily fertile. Corn, barley, nuts, wheat, grapes grew especially well. No wonder this area is famous for its excellent wines.

And at the beginning new era the area near the Gulf of Naples was also a favorite residence of wealthy Romans. In the north was the city of Herculaneum, to the south were Pompeii and Stabia - three kind of suburban suburbs of Naples. The patricians were attracted here by the mild and warm climate. Therefore, this part of the coast of the bay near Naples was built up with rich villas.

The first signs of Vesuvius's unrest were seen as early as mid-August 79. But at the time it didn't bother anyone. Similar surprises have been seen behind the volcano before. The last time he thoroughly "disturbed" Pompeii was on February 5, 62 AD. powerful earthquake order destroyed the city, but it did not serve as a lesson to its inhabitants. They were in no hurry to leave their homes. And this is no accident!

So, for the next 15 years, Pompeii was built - the inhabitants of the city restored the 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 trouble from him.

The tremors didn't really bother the townspeople. Each time they closed the cracks in the houses, updating the interior and adding new decorations along the way. No panic.

DAY OF THE ANGER OF THE GODS.

Vesuvius opened the pharynx - the smoke gushed out in a club - the flame
widely developed like a battle flag.
The earth is worried - from the 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.

A.S. Pushkin.

August 24 began as the most ordinary day in the life of Pompeii. In the morning, there were no signs of an impending tragedy. The bright sun flooded the streets of the city. People slowly went about their business, discussing last news. Shops worked, incense was smoked in temples, and in the city theater they were preparing for a performance - on this day next fights gladiators. These handsome warriors proudly strolled through the streets of Pompeii, laughing, reading the inscriptions on the walls of the houses, which were left to them by numerous admirers.

Now, after almost 2000 years, we know literally by the minute what happened in those tragic days. And this is thanks to two amazing letters of Pliny the Younger - an eyewitness to the tragedy.

August 24, at about 2 pm, a giant cloud began to rise rapidly over Vesuvius white color with brown spots. It grew and spread to the sides at a height, resembling the crown of a Mediterranean pine - pine. 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 the wagons were thrown from side to side, roof tiles fell off the houses and statues and obelisks collapsed.

The sky suddenly became formidable, the cloud became darker and darker ...

Behind the abundant ashfall, the sun completely disappeared, and the pitch darkness. This further increased the anxiety and confusion of the people. At the same time, there were heavy showers on the western slopes of the volcano, which often occur during eruptions. Loose ash and pumice layers 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.

Hercalanum was the first to die, since it was located almost at the foot of Vesuvius. Its inhabitants of the city, who tried to flee, died under the lava and ash.

The fate of Pompeii was different. Here there was no stream of mud, from which, apparently, flight was the only escape; here it all started with volcanic ash that could be easily shaken off. However, lapilli soon began to fall, then pieces of pumice, several kilograms each.

The whole 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 more and more difficult to breathe ... Trying to break free, swallow fresh air, the townspeople ran out into the street - here they fell under a hail of lapilli and returned in horror, but as soon as they crossed the threshold of the house, the ceiling collapsed on them, burying them under its debris. . 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 huddled under the stairwells and in the galleries, spending the last half an hour of their lives there in deathly fear. Later, however, sulfur fumes penetrated there as well.

By the time the terrified 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, sulphurous fumes in the air...

People, mad with fear and horror, fled, stumbled and fell, dying right on the streets, and they were instantly covered with ashes. Some of them decided to stay in houses where there was no ash, but the houses quickly filled with poisonous fumes, and hundreds of people died from suffocation. Many found their death under the ruins of their own houses, were crushed by roofs that collapsed under the weight of ash.

The last blow of Vesuvius to the unfortunate cities was the fiery wall of lava, which forever buried the once flourishing settlements.

Forty-eight hours later, the sun shone again, but both Pompeii and Herculaneum had already ceased to exist by that time .. In place of olives and green vineyards, in marble villas and throughout the city, ash and undulating lava lay. Everything within a radius of eighteen kilometers was destroyed. Moreover, the ashes were carried even to Syria and Egypt.

Now, over Vesuvius, only a thin column of smoke was visible, and the sky was blue again ...

However, despite the scope of the tragedy, only two thousand of the twenty thousand inhabitants of Pompeii died. Many residents realized in time what the eruption could threaten them with, and tried to quickly leave for a safe place.

Nearly seventeen centuries have passed. In the middle of the 18th century, people of a different culture, other customs took up spades and dug up what had been lying underground for so long.

Before the excavations began, only the very 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 of ancient writers about it were clothed in flesh and blood. The terrifying scope of this catastrophe and its suddenness became more and more visible: everyday life was interrupted so rapidly that the pigs remained in the ovens, and the bread in the ovens. What story could, for example, be told by the remains of two skeletons, on whose legs slave chains were still preserved? What did these people survive - shackled, helpless, in those hours when everything around was dying? What agony must have been experienced by this dog before dying? She was found under the ceiling of one of the rooms: chained, she rose along with a growing layer of lapilli, penetrating into the room through windows and doors, until, finally, she stumbled upon an insurmountable barrier - the ceiling, yapped at last time and suffocated.

Under the blows of the spade, pictures of the death of families, 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 a house. On the threshold of this house, two girls died: they hesitated to escape, trying to collect their things, and then it was too late to run. At the Hercules Gate, the bodies of the dead lay almost side by side; the load of household belongings that they dragged turned out to be unbearable for them. In one of the rooms, the skeletons of a woman and a dog were found. A careful study made it possible to restore the tragedy that had played out here. Indeed, why was the skeleton of the dog preserved in its entirety, while the remains of the woman were scattered throughout the room? Who could scatter them? Maybe they were taken away by a dog, in which, under the influence of hunger, wolf nature woke up? Perhaps she delayed the day of her death by attacking her own mistress and tearing her to pieces. Not far away, in another house, the events of the fateful day interrupted the wake. The participants in the feast were reclining around the table; so they were found seventeen centuries later - they turned out to be participants in their own funeral.

In one place, death overtook seven children who were playing, suspecting nothing, in a room. In the other, there are thirty-four people and with them a goat, which, apparently, was trying desperately to ring its bell to find salvation in the imaginary strength of a human dwelling. The one who was too slow to escape, neither courage, nor prudence, nor strength could help. A skeleton of a truly Herculean man was found; he also proved unable to protect his wife and fourteen-year-old daughter, who ran ahead of him: all three remained lying on the road. True, in the last effort, the man apparently made one more attempt to rise, but, intoxicated by poisonous fumes, he slowly sank to the ground, rolled over on his back and froze. The ashes that covered him, as it were, took a mold from his body; scientists poured gypsum into this form and received a sculptural image of the deceased Pompeian.

One can imagine what a noise, what a rumble was heard in a covered house, when a person left in it or lagging behind the others suddenly discovered that it was no longer possible to get out through the windows and doors; he tried to cut a hole in the wall with an axe; not finding a way to salvation here, he took to 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, 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 have been preserved on the walls of the taverns.

“AND THE LAST DAY OF POMPEI WAS THE FIRST DAY FOR THE RUSSIAN BRUSH…”

For the first time, Karl Bryullov visited the excavations of Pompeii in the summer of 1827. The history of the tragic catastrophe that befell the ancient city completely captured all the thoughts of the painter. Most likely, it was then that he had the idea to create a monumental historical picture.

The artist began to collect necessary materials before you start painting. An important source of information was for him the letters of an eyewitness to the catastrophe, Pliny the Younger, to the Roman historian Tacitus, which contained details of the catastrophe.

Bryullov studied the customs of ancient Italy, visited Naples several times, explored the ruined Pompeii, walked along its streets, examined in detail the houses preserved under volcanic ash with all the furnishings and utensils. He visited the Neapolitan Museum, where there were amazingly living prints of the bodies of people covered with hot ash. He makes a series of sketches: landscapes, ruins, petrified figures.

The artist visited 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 archaeological sites Bryullov writes not only all household items. He will depict some figures in the very poses that have been preserved by the voids formed in the frozen lava in place of the incinerated bodies - a mother with her daughters, a woman who fell from a chariot, a group of young spouses. The artist took the image of a young man with his mother from Pliny.

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. However, even shaken health does not stop his work.

And so the final composition of the picture was born.

The crowd in the picture breaks into individual groups, according to which the viewer gradually reads the literary intention of the artist - to depict the feelings and behavior of people in the face of death.

Each group has its own content, arising from the general content of the picture. The mother seeks to shelter the children. The sons save the old father, carry him on their shoulders. The groom carries off the unconscious bride. A weak mother convinces her son not to burden himself, and the father of the family tries to cover his loved ones with the last movement in his life. But here is a rider, who has much more chances to escape than others, rushes at full speed, not wanting to help anyone. And the priest, whom they used to listen to and trust, cowardly leaves the dying city, hoping to go unnoticed.

In one of the background groups, the artist depicted himself. 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.

And here is the finished painting. Preparation for work as a masterpiece took six years of the master's life (1827-1833). But her success was also grandiose.

Long before graduation in Rome, they 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 then exhibited in Milan, the Italians came to indescribable delight. The name of Karl Bryullov immediately became known to everyone Italian peninsula from one end to the other. When meeting in the streets, everyone took off his 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, there were always many people gathered to greet him.

The real triumph awaited K. Bryullov at home. The picture was brought to Russia in July 1834, and it immediately became the subject of patriotic pride, was in the center of attention of Russian society. Numerous engraved and lithographic reproductions of "The Last Day of Pompeii" spread the glory of K. Bryullov far beyond the capital. Best Representatives Russian culture enthusiastically welcomed the famous painting: A.S. Pushkin translated his story into verse, N.V. Gogol called the picture "a universal creation", in which everything "is so powerful, so bold, so harmoniously brought 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 "a bright resurrection of painting. He (K. Bryullov) is trying to grab nature with gigantic embraces."

E. A. Boratynsky, composed a laudatory ode on 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 beginner painters. After the opening of the Russian Museum in 1895, the canvas was exhibited there, and the general public gained access to it.

Note.

This is 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 started this work, and 34 when he finished the picture.

This is how he depicted himself on the canvas (remember, with a box on his head ...), he can best be seen on the first fragment of the picture from above.

The most significant historical events have always been reflected in works of art. They excited the imagination of both contemporaries and those who were separated from what happened by centuries. Such a grandiose tragedy that claimed the lives of many people was the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, which buried the prosperous and beautiful city of Pompeii under a layer of ash.

Impressed by visiting the excavations, Karl Bryullov set about creating the painting "The Death of Pompeii". interest in this historical event arose not by itself, but thanks to the stories of the artist's brother, architect Alexander Bryullov. Besides, works of art with similar subjects were in vogue at the time. The painter, who had been in Italy for quite some time, began to feel somewhat dismissive attitude to yourself and your creativity from the side local people art. Some of them felt that Karl was not capable of writing something more significant than small plot pictures for which he became famous. Thinking " The last day of Pompeii”, Bryullov not only wanted to create a canvas colossal in size and idea, but also to dispel the prejudices of arrogant Italians.

From the first sketches to the appearance final version The painting took almost six years. The painting, considered one of the most significant works of the artist, is located in the Russian Museum in St. Petersburg and is one of the most frequently visited and loved by the public. However, her writing was preceded by the creation of many sketches made in pencil, watercolor and oil. One of the versions of The Fall of Pompeii, which Bryullov wrote in 1828, is in the State Tretyakov Gallery, and arouses no less interest among visitors than a finished work.

Looking at him, one can easily imagine how important it was for a young ambitious painter to write a masterpiece dedicated to tragic death ancient city. Each sketch is another stage creative way artist, bringing him closer to the ultimate goal.
Description of the painting by Bryullov “The Last Day of Pompeii”

Studying a canvas with a plot on a historical theme is a fascinating experience. It is all the more interesting to get acquainted with the sketches preceding its creation. Lots of details general mood paintings, color - everything is subject to change depending on how the artist's vision changes, what becomes more significant for him or fades into the background.

The time for which Bryullov wrote "The Last Day of Pompeii" is only 11 months. At the same time, it took six years to develop the final version of the picture. The sketch of 1828 lacks some of the details that can be seen on the canvas, located in the Russian Museum.

The central group was invariably transferred by Bryullov from sketch to sketch: this is a family with two small children, fleeing from the wrath of Vesuvius. Another detail that is present in all versions of the picture: a woman who died in a fall from a chariot. The child who was with her survived. He hugs his mother in desperation, his eyes filled with fear of impending disaster. Apparently, the deceased was a noble Pompeian, as evidenced by the jewelry, scattered on the stone pavement from the blow. Many critics, including the painter's contemporaries, saw in the death of this unfortunate death of the entire ancient world.