Tretyakov Gallery. karl bryullov.portraits
Karl Bryullov lived in Italy for more than four years before reaching Pompeii in 1827. At that time he was looking for a plot for big picture on historical theme. What he saw amazed the artist. It took him six years to collect material and write an epic canvas with an area of almost 30 m2. In the picture, people of different sex and age, occupation and faith, caught in a catastrophe, are rushing about. However, in the motley crowd you can see four identical faces ...
In the same 1827, Bryullov met the woman of his life - Countess Yulia Samoilova. Separated from her husband, a young aristocrat, former lady-in-waiting, who loved the bohemian lifestyle, moved to Italy, where morals are freer. Both the countess and the artist had a reputation for heartthrobs. Their relationship remained free, but long, and friendship continued until Bryullov's death. “Nothing was done according to the rules between me and Karl,” Samoilova later wrote to his brother Alexander.
(Total 19 images)
Karl Bryullov, "Portrait of Countess Yulia Pavlovna Samoilova, leaving the ball with adopted daughter Amacilia Pacini", 1839-1840, fragment.
Julia with her Mediterranean appearance (there were rumors that the woman's father was the Italian Count Litta, her mother's stepfather) was an ideal for Bryullov, moreover, as if created for an ancient plot. The artist painted several portraits of the countess and "gave" her face to the four heroines of the painting, which became his most famous creation. In The Last Day of Pompeii, Bryullov wanted to show the beauty of a person even in a desperate situation, and Yulia Samoilova was for him a perfect example of this beauty in the real world.
Researcher Erich Hollerbach noted that similar friend on the heroine's friend last day Pompeii", despite social differences, look like representatives of one big family, as if the disaster brought together and equalized all the townspeople.
“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”, - Bryullov explained in a letter to his brother the choice of scene. This is already a suburb, the so-called Road of the Tombs, leading from the Herculaneum gates of Pompeii to Naples. Here were the tombs of noble citizens and temples. The artist sketched the location of the buildings during the excavations.
According to Bryullov, he saw one female and two children's skeletons, covered in these positions with volcanic ash, at excavations. The artist could associate a mother with two daughters with Yulia Samoilova, who, having no children of her own, took up two girls, relatives of friends, to raise. By the way, the father of the youngest of them, the composer Giovanni Pacini, wrote the opera The Last Day of Pompeii in 1825, and the fashionable production became one of the sources of inspiration for Bryullov.
Christian priest. In the first century of Christianity, a minister could have been in Pompeii new faith, in the picture it is easy to recognize him by the cross, liturgical utensils - a censer and a chalice - and a scroll with sacred text. The wearing of pectoral and pectoral crosses in the 1st century has not been confirmed archaeologically.
Pagan priest. The status of the character is indicated by cult objects in his hands and a headband - infula. Bryullov's contemporaries reproached him for not bringing to the fore the opposition of Christianity to paganism, but the artist did not have such a goal.
Items pagan cult. The tripod was intended for incense to the gods, ritual knives and axes - for slaughtering sacrificial cattle, a vessel - for washing hands before performing the ceremony.
The clothing of a citizen of the Roman Empire consisted of an undershirt, a tunic, and a toga, a large piece of almond-shaped woolen cloth draped around the body. Toga was a sign of Roman citizenship, the exiled Romans lost the right to wear it. The priests wore a white toga with a purple stripe along the edge - toga praetexta.
Judging by the number of frescoes on the walls of Pompeii, the profession of a painter was in demand in the city. As an ancient painter, running next to a girl with the appearance of Countess Julia, Bryullov portrayed himself - this was often done by Renaissance masters, whose work he studied in Italy.
According to the art historian Galina Leontyeva, a pompeian woman lying on the pavement that fell from a chariot symbolizes death. ancient world for which the artists of classicism yearned.
The things that fell out of the box, like other objects and decorations in the picture, were copied by Bryullov from bronze and silver mirrors, keys, lamps found by archaeologists, filled with olive oil, vases, bracelets and necklaces belonging to the inhabitants of Pompeii of the 1st century AD.
As conceived by the artist, these are two brothers rescuing a sick old father.
Pliny the Younger with his mother. The ancient Roman prose writer, who witnessed the eruption of Vesuvius, described it in detail in two letters to the historian Tacitus. Bryullov placed the scene with Pliny on the canvas “as an example of a childish and maternal love”, despite the fact that the disaster caught the writer and his family in another city - Misena (about 25 km from Vesuvius and about 30 km from Pompeii). Pliny recalled how he and his mother got out of Mizenum at the height of the earthquake, and a cloud was approaching the city volcanic ash. It was difficult for an elderly woman to escape, and she, not wanting to cause the death of her 18-year-old son, persuaded her to leave her. “I answered that I would be saved only with her; I take her by the arm and make her step up, ”said Pliny. Both survived.
Goldfinch. During a volcanic eruption, birds died on the fly.
By ancient Roman tradition wreaths of flowers decorated the heads of the newlyweds. Flammey fell from the girl's head - the traditional cover of the ancient Roman bride from a thin yellow-orange fabric.
Building from the Road of the Tombs, the resting place of Aulus Umbritius Scaurus the Younger. The tombs of the ancient Romans were usually built outside the city on both sides of the road. Scaurus the Younger during his lifetime held the position of duumvir, that is, he was at the head of the city government, and for his merits he was even awarded a monument in the forum. This citizen was the son of a wealthy trader in garum fish sauce (Pompeii was famous for it throughout the empire).
Seismologists, by the nature of the destruction of the buildings depicted in the picture, determined the intensity of the earthquake "according to Bryullov" - eight points.
The eruption, which occurred on August 24-25, 79 AD, destroyed several cities of the Roman Empire, located at the foot of the volcano. Of the 20-30 thousand inhabitants of Pompeii, about two thousand did not escape, judging by the remains found.
Self-portrait of Karl Bryullov, 1848.
1799 - Born in St. Petersburg in the family of academician of ornamental sculpture Pavel Brullo.
1809–1821 - Studied at the Academy of Arts.
1822 - At the expense of the Society for the Encouragement of Artists, he left for Germany and Italy.
1823 - Created "Italian Morning".
1827 - Painted pictures " Italian afternoon” and “A girl picking grapes in the vicinity of Naples.”
1828-1833 - Worked on the canvas "The Last Day of Pompeii".
1832 - Wrote "Horsewoman", "Bathsheba".
1832-1834 - Worked on the "Portrait of Yulia Pavlovna Samoilova with Giovanina Pacini and a black child."
1835 - Returned to Russia.
1836 - Became a professor at the Academy of Arts.
1839 - Married the daughter of the Riga burgomaster Emilia Timm, but divorced two months later.
1840 - Created "Portrait of Countess Yulia Pavlovna Samoilova, leaving the ball ...".
1849–1850 - Went abroad for medical treatment.
1852 - Died in the village of Manziana near Rome, buried in the Roman cemetery of Testaccio.
The material was prepared by Natalia Ovchinnikova for the magazine "Around the world". Published with the permission of the journal.
The future great painter was born on December 12, 1799 in St. Petersburg, in the family of an artist who painted wonderful miniatures, Pavel Brullo, a descendant of a Huguenot. They left their homeland in droves in 1685, when the king Louis XIV issued a decree repealing the Edict of Nantes. The time had come when Protestants were persecuted everywhere.
The creative fate of Karl was predetermined from birth - his father was a painter in the 3rd generation; his 5 sons (Karl - middle) were educated at the Academy of Arts, where he taught, and became painters.
Karl had a very weak immune system, was ill a lot and until the age of seven he spent almost all the time in bed. His father, a mason by conviction, believed that every minute must certainly be spent with benefit. He himself was involved in the upbringing of the boys, demanding that they draw daily, and the tasks were considerable. If someone did not fulfill the entire norm, then he was deprived of lunch. Once angry, he hit the boy for a minor prank, and he was deaf in one ear all his life.
In 1809, Karl and his older brother were admitted to the Academy of Arts without exams. The mentors quickly noted that among classmates with Karl, no one could compare in drawing - he received awards, as his teachers said, "whole handfuls", striking everyone with his talent and unique abilities.
Having triumphantly graduated from the Academy in 1821 and having received an excellent certificate, Karl became a pensioner of the Society for the Encouragement of Artists (OPKh), and with these funds he and his brother went to Italy.
For ten months, the brothers moved slowly, with stops, through European countries having visited many cities of the Twelve wonderful years Bryullov lived his life in Italy. On this land blessed for all artists, he took place as a talented painter. During these years, many events took place in Europe, in particular, they were marked by an irreconcilable struggle between classicism and romanticism. Bryullov also takes an active part in it. The main "battles" took place in Paris, where the classics David and Ingres were "attacked" by artists led by Delacroix.
Since 1789, painters from Russia were not allowed into France - they lived in Rome. Bryullov was fascinated by the magnificent painting of the Renaissance, but he was looking for his own way. He soon said goodbye to the plots proposed by the Academy. His works "Italian Morning", "Italian Noon", "Horsewoman" and others put the artist on a par with the best painters in Europe. However, they were bewildered by the OPH, which paid him cash. Karl in 1829 broke off relations with the OPH and refused help.
At this time, Karl was attracted by a story from life ancient rome, and then a wealthy industrialist A. Demidov invited the artist to paint a picture based on this plot. Bryullov wrote this work for almost six years. The work was a kind of response of the painter to the questions that worried young artists at that time. He sought to reconcile classicism and romanticism in his work. The result was stunning - "The Last Day of Pompeii" was a deafening triumph in all European countries. The canvas was exhibited in Paris and was awarded the Big Gold Medal. Then, Demidov's gift to the emperor, was exhibited at the Academy of Arts. long lines lined up.
Bryullov left Italy at the call of Nicholas I, leaving his love behind. Countess Yulia Samoilova - a Russian beauty - legends were made about her novels. From their frequent correspondence, it is clear that it was a passion. Julia was Bryullov's muse, she shines in many of his paintings.
Russia met the "Great Charles", as they began to call him after this triumph, with jubilation. Receptions in his honor were held in the most distinguished houses of the capital and Moscow. Bryullov met many the best representatives culture and art. Warm sincere friendship connected him with M. Glinka and N. Kukolnik. But not everything went so smoothly ... Pushkin wrote: "Bryullov returns reluctantly, fearing a damp climate and captivity." The unwillingness to return had good reasons - Nicholas I, was excited by the mood that prevailed in Europe, "tightened the screws." The relationship between the emperor and the painter was tense - Bryullov was too freedom-loving by nature. Indeed, it is very surprising - he did not write a single portrait of the Russian monarch, under various, often far-fetched pretexts, refused such orders - there are several surviving memoirs of his contemporaries on this subject.
The artist set about creating the canvas “The Siege of Pskov by S. Batory”, which, as he said, very soon turned into “Annoyance from Pskov”. He wrote it for eight years and then abandoned it. To enroll in Prof. Bryullova K.P. there was a huge queue. His grateful students were: Chistyakov, Shevchenko, Fedotov, Ge.
The personal life of the great painter did not work out. He fell in love with Emily Timm, the daughter of the mayor of Riga. She agreed to become his wife, but before the wedding, Amy admitted that she had succumbed to her father's harassment and continued to have an intimate relationship with him. However, the young people got married. But Amy's father took her marriage as a cover to continue this relationship. A couple of months later, the marriage was annulled. " Great Karl"was glorified. Gossip did not stop, he was no longer accepted in many metropolitan houses.
The artist was often sick, tormented by heart problems. In 1849, he left Russia, traveling through Europe, and stopped at Fr. Madeira. A year later, Bryullov visited Spain and from there moved to his beloved Rome. He became friends with the family of Angelo Tittoni, Garibaldi's colleague in the revolutionary struggle.
On June 11, 1852, K. P. Bryullov left this world in Manziana, located not far from Rome, there were mineral waters prescribed to him by a doctor ... In the morning, nothing foreshadowed the tragedy, but after lunch he suddenly felt suffocated, and after three hours being up last breath conscious, died.
Karl Bryullov was buried in Rome at the cemetery of Monte Testaccio. to the greatest painter the nineteenth century was only fifty-two.
Natalya Abdullaeva
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 picture was painted in Italy, where in 1822 the artist went on a pensioner's trip from the Imperial Academy of Arts 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, the idea of a canvas on a historical theme was born. 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 the 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 - 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 best traditions 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 picture also violates classical traditions and allows you to talk about 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 at the Paris Salon. French criticism was, unlike the Italian, more restrained. But professionals appreciated the work at its true worth, presenting Bryullov with a gold medal. French Academy 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”.
For more than 50 years, art historians have been absolutely sure that a certain Ulyana Smirnova is depicted in the portrait by Karl Bryullov. Moreover, there was a corresponding inscription on the sketch for the portrait. However, it was not possible to find out who this girl was. And no wonder: no Ulyana Smirnova has ever existed.
Portraitist
Undoubtedly, Karl Bryullov was outstanding painter of his time. And recognition came to him not only thanks to the masterpiece "The Last Day of Pompeii", but also thanks to his portraits. Many famous people 19th century wished to be the artist's models. It was Bryullov who painted the portraits of the architect Ton, the bibliographer and friend of Pushkin Sobolevsky, the geographer Chikhachev, the writer Kukolnik, the poet and prose writer Alexei Tolstoy and others.
Therefore, it seems even more strange that at the end of the 1830s, in one of his paintings, Bryullov depicted an unknown girl with a dog in her arms. Until the middle of the 20th century, this painting was simply called “Portrait of a Woman”.
At Smirnov
In the second half of the last century, the girl finally found a name. He was prompted to art historians by a sketch for a portrait, which was signed "At Smirnov's". This inscription became the basis for the assumption that a certain Ulyana Smirnova was painted in the picture. Moreover, Ulyana even got a patronymic, designated with just one letter "M". From that moment on, in all sources, the picture began to appear as "Portrait of U. M. Smirnova."
The established myth about the existence of Ulyana Smirnova was dispelled only in 2018. That is, after at least 170 years, the experts were lucky enough to finally unravel the mystery of the portrait of Karl Bryullov.
Punctuation mark and dog
The first to approach the truth was an employee of the Russian Museum, where the masterpiece is kept to this day, Sergey Alekseev. The art critic doubted that "U" is the initial letter of the heroine's name, since a period was not put after it. As a result of the research and study of various archival documents, Alekseev came to the conclusion that the inscription “At Smirnov’s” should be taken literally, because the painting was in the possession of a collector with a similar surname.
As for the girl depicted on the canvas, thanks to comparative analysis managed to establish the identity of the mysterious stranger. She turned out to be none other than the daughter of Emperor Nicholas I Grand Duchess Alexandra Nikolaevna. The girl lived only until the age of 19 and died after premature birth. She was the favorite of the emperor, and many artists managed to capture her image on canvas. This version was confirmed after comparison “ female portrait with other works. These include, for example, Christina Robertson, who worked for more than one year at the court of Nicholas I. In addition, she helped to “identify” the princess and the dog, which Robertson also immortalized.
