Russian artist Karl Bryullov was undoubtedly respected enough for his skill 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 catastrophe painting 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 the Vesuvius volcano, the cities of Pompeii, Herculaneum, Stabiae and many small villages became graves for several thousand local residents. Real archaeological excavations of the areas sunk into oblivion began only in 1748, that is, 51 years before the birth of Karl Bryullov himself. It is clear that archaeologists have worked not one day, but several decades. Thanks to this circumstance, the artist managed to personally visit the excavations and wander along the ancient Roman streets already freed from the frozen 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 the creation of the lover's masterpiece, and even more than one. Bryullov and Samoilova had the opportunity to see the buildings of the ancient city, restored household items, the remains of dead people. All this left a deep and vivid imprint on the fine nature of the artist. It was in 1827.

Disappearing characters

Impressed Bryullov almost immediately got down to work, and, 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 disaster, the ancient Roman politician and writer Pliny the Younger, whose uncle Pliny the Elder died during the eruption. Of course, this kind of work took a lot of time. Therefore, the preparation for writing the masterpiece took Bryullov more than 5 years. The very same canvas, 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 now and then changed the original idea to one degree or another. For example, he did not use the sketch on which he drew 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 the nature for all these characters - the same Countess Samoilova. Despite the fact that the artist drew other people in the picture from ordinary inhabitants of Italy, apparently, Samoilov Bryullov, seized with certain feelings, just liked to write.

In addition, in the crowd depicted on the canvas, you can find the painter himself. He portrayed himself as who he was, an artist with a box full of drawing 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 in the masterpiece there is also an adherent of the Christian faith, who is easily recognizable by the cross on his chest. A mother and two daughters cling to him, as if seeking protection from the old man. However, Bryullov drew a pagan priest who was running away swiftly, 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 reliability of events, introduced a hidden meaning into his work. Through the aforementioned priests, he showed not only the cataclysm itself, but the disappearance of the old and the birth of the new.

Nearly 2000 years ago, the eruption of Mount Vesuvius destroyed several ancient Roman settlements, including the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum. The Futurist chronicles the events of August 24-25, 79 AD.

The ancient Roman writer and lawyer Pliny the Younger said that it happened in the seventh hour after sunrise (at about noon) on August 24. His mother pointed out to his uncle, Pliny the Elder, a cloud of unusual size and shape that had arisen at the top of the mountain. Pliny the Elder, who at the time was the commander of the Roman fleet, went to Misena to observe the rare natural phenomenon. Over the next two days, 16 thousand inhabitants of the Roman settlements of Pompeii, Herculaneum and Stabia died: their bodies were buried under a layer of ash, stones and pumice, thrown out by the raging volcano Vesuvius.

Casts of bodies found during excavations are now exhibited inside the Baths of Stabian at the archaeological site in Pompeii

Since then, interest in Pompeii has not faded: modern researchers draw digital maps of the ruined city and go on archaeological expeditions to show us the daily life of people who fell at the foot of the volcano.

Letters from Pliny the Younger to the historian Tacitus, the results of excavations and volcanological evidence allow scientists to reconstruct the timeline of the eruption.

Ruins of Pompeii against the background of Vesuvius

12:02 Pliny's mother tells his uncle Pliny the Elder about a strange cloud that appeared over Vesuvius. Before that, for several days the city was shaken by tremors, although this was uncharacteristic for the Campania region. Pliny the Younger would later describe this phenomenon as follows:

“A huge black cloud was rapidly approaching ... from it every now and then long, fantastic tongues of flame, reminiscent of flashes of lightning, only much larger ones burst out” ...

Winds carry most of the ash to the southeast. The "Plinian phase" of the eruption begins.

13:00 To the east of the volcano, ash begins to fall. Pompeii is just six miles from Vesuvius.

14:00 Ash first falls on Pompeii, then white pumice. The layer of volcanic sediments that has covered the ground is growing at a rate of 10-15 cm per hour. Ultimately, the pumice layer will be 280 cm thick.

The Last Day of Pompeii, painting by Karl Pavlovich Bryullov, painted in 1830-1833.

17:00 Rooftops collapse under the mass of volcanic sediments in Pompeii. Fist-sized stones are raining down on the city at a speed of 50 m / s. The sun is covered with an ash veil, and people seek refuge in the pitch darkness. Many rush to the harbor of Pompeii. In the evening comes the turn of gray pumice.

23:15 The "Peleus eruption" begins, the first wave of which hit Herculaneum, Boscoreale and Oplontis.

00:00 The 14-kilometer column of ash has grown to 33 kilometers. Pumice and ash enter the stratosphere. Over the next seven hours, six pyroclastic waves (a gassing stream of ash, pumice and lava) will strike the area. Death overtakes people everywhere. Here is how volcanologist Giuseppe Mastrolorenzo describes the night for National Geographic:

“The temperature outside and indoors has risen to 300 ° C. This is more than enough to kill hundreds of people in a split second. When the pyroclastic wave swept over Pompeii, people did not have time to suffocate. The distorted postures of the victims' bodies are not a consequence of prolonged agony, it is a spasm from a heat shock that bent already dead limbs. "


Bryullov Karl Pavlovich (1799-1852). "The last day of Pompeii"

At the magic touch of his brush, historical, portrait, watercolor, perspective, landscape painting was resurrected, which he gave in his paintings living samples. The artist's brush barely had time to follow his fantasy, images of virtues and vices swarmed in his head, constantly replacing one another, whole historical events grew to the most vivid concrete outlines.

Self-portrait. C. 1833

Karl Bryullov was 28 years old when he conceived to paint the grandiose painting "The Last Day of Pompeii". The artist owed the emergence of interest in this topic to his older brother, the architect Alexander Bryullov, who acquainted him in detail with the excavations of 1824-1825. K. Bryullov himself was in these years in Rome, the fifth year of his retirement in Italy expired. He already had several serious works that had considerable success in the artistic environment, but none of them seemed to the artist himself quite worthy of his talent. He felt that he had not yet lived up to the hopes placed in him.


"The last day of Pompeii"
1830-1833
Canvas, oil. 456.5 x 651 cm
State Russian Museum

For a long time, Karl Bryullov was haunted by the conviction that he could create a work that is more significant than those that he has done until now. Conscious of his strength, he wanted to complete a large and complex picture and thereby destroy the rumors that began to walk around Rome. He was especially annoyed by the cavalier Cammucini, who at that time was considered the first Italian painter. It was he who treated the talent of the Russian artist with distrust and often said: “Well, this Russian painter is capable of small things.

Others, too, although they recognized Karl Bryullov's great talent, however, noted that frivolity and an absent-minded life would never allow him to focus on a serious work. Spurred on by these conversations, Karl Bryullov was constantly looking for a plot for a big picture that would glorify his name. For a long time he could not dwell on any of the topics that crossed his mind. Finally, he attacked the plot, which took possession of all his thoughts.

At that time, Paccini's opera L "Ultimo giorno di Pompeia" was successfully performed on the stages of many Italian theaters. There is no doubt that Karl Bryullov saw her and, perhaps, even more than once. In addition, together with the nobleman AN Demidov (as a chamberlain and knight of His Majesty the Emperor of Russia), he examined the destroyed Pompeii, he knew from himself what a strong impression these ruins, which preserved traces of ancient chariots, make on the viewer; these houses, as if only recently abandoned by their owners; these public buildings and temples , amphitheaters, where, as if only yesterday, the gladiatorial battles ended; suburban tombs with the names and titles of those whose ashes are still preserved in the surviving urns.

All around, just like many centuries ago, the vegetation was lushly green, covering the remains of the unfortunate city. And above all this rises the dark cone of Vesuvius, ominously smoking in the friendly azure sky. In Pompeii, Bryullov vividly asked the ministers who had been overseeing the excavations for a long time about all the details.

Of course, the artist's impressionable and receptive soul responded to the thoughts and feelings excited by the remains of the ancient Italian city. At one of these moments, the thought flashed in his mind to present these scenes on a large canvas. He communicated this idea to A.N. Demidov with such fervor that he promised to give funds for the implementation of this plan and in advance to purchase the future picture of Karl Bryullov.

Karl Bryullov set to work with love and ardor, and pretty soon made an initial sketch. However, other occupations distracted the artist from Demidov's order and by the set date (end of 1830) the painting was not ready. Dissatisfied with such circumstances, A.N. Demidov almost destroyed the terms of the contract concluded between them, and only K. Bryullov's assurances that he would immediately start work corrected the whole matter.


The last day of Pompeii 1. 1827-1830


The last day of Pompeii 2. 1827-1830


The last day of Pompeii. 1828

Indeed, he set to work with such zeal that two years later he completed a colossal canvas. The brilliant artist drew his inspiration not only from the ruins of destroyed Pompeii, he was also inspired by the classical prose of Pliny the Younger, who described the eruption of Vesuvius in his letter to the Roman historian Tacitus.

Striving for the greatest reliability of the image, Bryullov studied the materials of the excavations and historical documents. The architectural structures in the picture were restored by him from the remains of ancient monuments, household items and women's jewelry were copied from the exhibits in the Museum of Naples. The figures and heads of the depicted people were painted mainly from life, from the inhabitants of Rome. Numerous sketches of individual figures, whole groups and sketches of the painting show the author's aspiration for maximum psychological, plastic and coloristic expressiveness.

Bryullov constructed the picture as separate episodes, at first glance not connected with each other. The connection becomes clear only when all the groups, the whole picture, are simultaneously covered with a glance.

Long before graduation in Rome, they began to talk about the marvelous work of the Russian artist. When the doors of his workshop on St. Claudius Street were thrown wide open to the public, and when the painting was later exhibited in Milan, the Italians were indescribable delight. The name of Karl Bryullov immediately became known throughout the Italian peninsula - from one end to the other. When meeting in the streets, everyone took off his hat in front of him; when he appeared in theaters, everyone got up; at the door of the house where he lived, or the restaurant where he dined, many people always gathered to greet him.

Italian newspapers and magazines glorified Karl Bryullov as a genius equal to the greatest painters of all time, poets sang him in poetry, whole treatises were written about his new painting. The English writer V. Scott called it an epic of painting, and Kammuchini (ashamed of his previous statements) hugged K. Bryullov and called him a colossus. Since the Renaissance itself, no artist in Italy was the object of such universal worship as Karl Bryullov.

He presented to the astonished gaze all the virtues of an impeccable artist, although it has long been known that even the greatest painters did not possess equally all perfections in their happiest combination. However, K. Bryullov's drawing, lighting of the picture, its artistic style are absolutely inimitable. The painting "The Last Day of Pompeii" introduced Europe to the mighty Russian brush and Russian nature, which is capable of reaching almost unattainable heights in every field of art.

What is depicted in the painting by Karl Bryullov?

Vesuvius, blazing in the distance, from the depths of which rivers of fiery lava flow in all directions. The light from them is so strong that the buildings closest to the volcano seem to be already burning. One French newspaper noted this pictorial effect that the artist wanted to achieve, and pointed out: "An ordinary artist, of course, would not fail to take advantage of the eruption of Vesuvius to illuminate his picture; but Mr. Bryullov neglected this means. The genius inspired him with a bold idea, just as happy as well as inimitable: to illuminate the entire front part of the picture with a quick, momentary and whitish gleam of lightning, cutting through a thick cloud of ash that encircles the city, while the light from the eruption, with difficulty making its way through the deep darkness, throws a reddish penumbra into the background. "

Indeed, the basic color scheme that K. Bryullov chose for his painting was extremely daring for that time. It was a gamut of the spectrum, built on blue, red and yellow colors, illuminated with white light. Green, pink, blue are found as intermediate tones.

Having conceived to write a large canvas, K. Bryullov chose one of the most difficult methods of its compositional construction, namely, light-shadow and spatial. This required the artist to accurately calculate the effect of the painting at a distance and mathematically accurately determine the incidence of light. And to create the impression of deep space, he had to pay serious attention to the aerial perspective.

In the center of the canvas is the prostrate figure of a murdered young woman, as if Karl Bryullov wanted to symbolize the dying ancient world with her (a hint of such an interpretation was already encountered in the responses of his contemporaries). This noble family retired in a chariot, hoping to escape with a hasty flight. But, alas, it was too late: death overtook them on the way. Frightened horses shake the reins, the reins break, the axle of the chariot breaks, and the woman sitting in them is thrown to the ground and perishes. Next to the unfortunate woman are various jewelry and precious objects that she took with her on her last journey. And the unbridled horses continue to carry her husband - also to certain death, and in vain he tries to stay in the chariot. The child reaches out to the lifeless body of the mother ...

The unfortunate townspeople are looking for salvation, driven by fire, continuous eruptions of lava and falling ash. This is a whole tragedy of human horror and human suffering. The city perishes in a sea of ​​fire, statues, buildings - everything is thrown down and flies into the maddened crowd. How many different faces and positions, how many colors there are in these faces!

Here is a brave warrior and his young brother in a hurry to hide from the inevitable death of their aged father ... They are carrying a relaxed old man who is trying to push away, to remove from himself the terrible ghost of death, trying to shield himself from the ashes that are falling on him with his hand. The dazzling flash of lightning, reflected on his forehead, makes the body of the old man shudder ... And on the left, near the Christian, a group of women looks with longing at the ominous sky ...

One of the first to appear in the film was Pliny's group with his mother. A young man in a wide-brimmed hat is leaning towards an elderly woman in impetuous movement. Here (in the right corner of the picture) the figure of a mother and her daughters emerges ...

The owner of the painting, A.N. Demidov, was delighted with the resounding success of "The Last Day of Pompeii" and certainly wanted to show the picture in Paris. Thanks to his efforts, it was exhibited at the Art Salon of 1834, but even before that, the French had heard about the exceptional success of K. Bryullov's painting among the Italians. But a completely different situation reigned in French painting of the 1830s, it was the arena of a fierce struggle between various artistic trends, and therefore the work of K. Bryullov was greeted without the enthusiasm that fell to his lot in Italy. Despite the fact that the reviews of the French press were not very favorable for the artist, the French Academy of Arts awarded Karl Bryullov an honorary gold medal.

The real triumph awaited K. Bryullov at home. The painting was brought to Russia in July 1834, and it immediately became a subject of patriotic pride and became the focus 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. The best representatives of Russian culture enthusiastically greeted the famous canvas: A.S. Pushkin put his plot in verse, N.V. Gogol called the painting "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 the universal genius." But even these own praises seemed to the writer insufficient, and he called the picture "the bright resurrection of painting. He (K. Bryullov) is trying to grab nature in a gigantic embrace."

Evgeny Baratynsky dedicated the following lines to Karl Bryullov:

He brought peace trophies
With you in the fatherly shade.
And there was "The Last Day of Pompeii"
For the Russian brush, the first day.

"One hundred great pictures" N.A. Ionin, publishing house "Veche", 2002

Original post and comments on

The last day of Pompeii - Karl Pavlovich Bryullov. 1830. Oil on canvas. 456.5x651



An outstanding master of historical paintings and portraits, Karl Pavlovich Bryullov (1799-1852) is a prominent representative of romanticism painting, which painted the era of the first half of the XlX century. He was often accompanied by the epithets "Brilliant Karl", "Karl the Magnificent", rarely did anyone get such fame and recognition of his contemporaries. Having received his art education in Russia, Bryullov went to Italy to improve his painting skills.

About the plot of the painting "The Last Day of Pompeii"

The plot of the painting "The Last Day of Pompeii" taken from ancient history - the eruption of Mount Vesuvius and the collapse of the city of Pompeii (II century BC). The omnipotence of blind fate is a favorite theme of the art of romanticism. The death of people, their confusion and horror before the impending collapse of the city are conveyed by the artist in an interesting and complex multi-figured composition. The theatrical effect of poses and gestures, various facial expressions, fluttering draperies of clothes, the painter shows all the drama of the scene, however, despite the impending death, the heroes, even in suffering, do not lose their beauty and greatness of spirit. This was the philosophy and aesthetics of romanticism. Bryullov's painting with the inherent mastery of the beauty of form and the solemnity of bright colors contributes to the transfer of the pathetic mood of the unfolding action.

After the execution of this monumental canvas, the artist gained European fame. Moving at the end of his life to Italy, he finally settled there and became an honorary member of the Academy of Arts in Milan, Florence, Bologna and the Academy of St. Luke in Rome.


1833 Oil on canvas. 456.5 x 651cm
State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg

Bryullov's painting can be called complete, worldwide
creation, it was all there.
Nikolay Gogol.

On the night of August 24-25, 79 A.D. NS. eruption of Vesuvius the cities of Pompeii, Herculaneum and Stabia were destroyed. In 1833 Karl Bryullov wrote his famous painting "The last day of Pompeii".

It is difficult to name a painting that would have enjoyed the same success among contemporaries as "The Last Day of Pompeii." As soon as the canvas was completed, the Roman workshop of Karl Bryullov underwent a real siege. "Vall Rome flocked to see my picture ", - wrote the artist. Exhibited in 1833 in Milan"Pompeia" literally shocked the audience. Newspapers and magazines were full of laudatory reviews,Bryullov was called the revived Titian, the second Michelangelo, the new Raphael ...

In honor of the Russian artist, dinners and receptions were held, poetry was dedicated to him. As soon as Bryullov appeared in the theater, the hall burst into applause. The painter was recognized on the streets, showered with flowers, and sometimes the celebrations ended with fans carrying him with songs in their arms.

In 1834 a painting, optionalcustomer, industrialist A.N. Demidova, was exhibited at the Paris Salon. The public reaction here was not as hot as in Italy (they are jealous! - explained the Russians), but "Pompeia" was awarded the gold medal of the French Academy of Fine Arts.

The enthusiasm and patriotic enthusiasm with which the painting was greeted in St. Petersburg is difficult to imagine: thanks to Bryullov, Russian painting ceased to be a diligent student of the great Italians and created a work that delighted Europe!The painting was donated Demidov Nikolay I , who briefly placed it in the Imperial Hermitage, and then presented it Academies arts.

According to the memoirs of a contemporary, “crowds of visitors, one might say, burst into the halls of the Academy to look at Pompeii”. They talked about the masterpiece in salons, shared opinions in private correspondence, made notes in diaries. The honorary nickname "Charlemagne" became firmly established for Bryullov.

Impressed by the painting, Pushkin wrote a six-line:
"Vesuvius opened its mouth - smoke poured out in a club - flame
It has developed widely as a battle banner.
The earth is agitated - from the reeling columns
Idols are falling! A people driven by fear
Under the stone rain, under the inflamed ashes
In droves, young and old, he runs out of the city. "

Gogol devoted a remarkably deep article to The Last Day of Pompeii, and the poet Yevgeny Baratynsky expressed general jubilation in the famous impromptu:

« You brought peace trophies
With you in the fatherly shade,
And it became "The last day of Pompeii"
For the Russian brush, the first day! "

The immoderate enthusiasm subsided long ago, but even today Bryullov's painting makes a strong impression that goes beyond the sensations that painting usually evokes in us, even a very good one. What's the matter here?


"Street of the Tombs". In the depths - the Herculaneum gate.
Photo of the second half of the 19th century.

Ever since excavations began in Pompeii in the middle of the 18th century, interest in this city, which perished in the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 AD e., did not fade away. Europeans flocked to Pompeii to wander through the ruins freed from a layer of petrified volcanic ash, admire frescoes, sculptures, mosaics, and marvel at unexpected archaeological finds. Excavations attracted artists and architects, etchings with views of Pompeii were in great fashion.

Bryullov , who first visited the excavations in 1827, very accurately conveyedfeeling of empathy for the events of two thousand years ago, which covers everyone who comes to Pompeii:“The sight of these ruins involuntarily forced me to travel back to the time when these walls were still inhabited /… /. You cannot 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. "

The artist strove in his painting to express this "new feeling", to create a new image of antiquity - not an abstract museum, but a holistic and full-blooded one. He got used to the era with the meticulousness and care of an archaeologist: out of more than five years, it took only 11 months to create the canvas with an area of ​​30 square meters, the rest of the time was occupied by preparatory work.

“I took this entire set from nature, not retreating in the least and not adding, standing with my back to the city gates, in order to see part of Vesuvius as the main reason,” Bryullov shared in one of his letters.There were eight gates in Pompeii, butfurther, the artist mentioned “the stairs leading to Sepolcri Sc au ro "- the monumental tomb of the eminent city dweller Skavr, and this gives us the opportunity to accurately establish the scene of action chosen by Bryullov. We are talking about the Herculanean gate of Pompeii ( Porto di Ercolano ), behind which, already outside the city limits, the "Street of Tombs" ( Via dei S epolcri) - a cemetery with lush tombs and temples. This part of Pompeii was in the 1820s. already well cleared, which allowed the painter to reconstruct architecture on canvas with maximum accuracy.


Tomb of Skavr. Reconstruction of the 19th century.

Recreating the picture of the eruption, Bryullov followed the famous messages of Pliny the Younger to Tacitus. Young Pliny survived an eruption in the seaport of Miseno north of Pompeii and described in detail what he saw: houses that seemed to have moved from their places, a flame spreading widely over the cone of a volcano, hot pieces of pumice falling from the sky, heavy rain from ash, black impenetrable darkness , fiery zigzags, like giant lightning ... And Bryullov transferred all this to the canvas.

Seismologists are amazed at how convincingly he portrayed the earthquake: looking at the crumbling houses, you can determine the direction and strength of the earthquake (8 points). Volcanologists note that the eruption of Vesuvius was written with all possible accuracy for that time. Historians claim that Bryullov's painting can be used to study ancient Roman culture.

To reliably capture the world of ancient Pompeii destroyed by the catastrophe, Bryullov took objects and remains of bodies found during excavations for samples, made countless sketches in the archaeological museum of Naples. The method of restoring the deathbed poses of the dead, pouring lime into the voids formed from the bodies, was invented only in 1870, but even during the creation of the picture, skeletons found in the petrified ash testified to the last convulsions and gestures of the victims. A mother hugging her two daughters; a young woman who crashed to death when falling from a chariot that ran into a cobblestone that was turned out of the pavement by an earthquake; people on the steps of the Scavr's tomb, protecting their heads from rockfall with stools and dishes, - all this is not a figment of the painter's imagination, but an artistically recreated reality.

On the canvas, we see characters endowed with portrait features of the author himself and his lover, Countess Yulia Samoilova. Bryullov depicted himself as an artist carrying a box of brushes and paints on his head. The beautiful features of Julia are recognized four times in the picture: a girl with a vessel on her head, a mother hugging her daughters, a woman holding a baby to her chest, a noble Pompeian woman who fell from a broken chariot. Self-portrait and portraits of a friend are the best proof that in his penetration into the past, Bryullov really became akin to the event, creating for the viewer a "presence effect", making him, as it were, a participant in what is happening.


Fragment of the picture:
self-portrait of Bryullovand a portrait of Yulia Samoilova.
Fragment of the picture:
compositional "triangle" - a mother hugging her daughters.

Bryullov's painting pleased everyone - both strict academicians, adherents of the aesthetics of classicism, and those who appreciated novelty in art and for whom "Pompey" became, according to Gogol, "the bright resurrection of painting."This novelty was brought to Europe by the fresh wind of romanticism. The dignity of Bryullov's painting is usually seen in the fact that a brilliant student of the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts was open to new trends. At the same time, the classicist layer of the picture is often interpreted as a relic, an inevitable tribute to the artist's routine past. But it seems that another turn of the theme is also possible: the fusion of the two "isms" turned out to be fruitful for the picture.

The unequal, fatal struggle of man with the elements - such is the romantic pathos of the picture. It is built on the sharp contrasts of darkness and the destructive light of the eruption, the inhuman power of soulless nature and the high intensity of human feelings.

But there is also something in the picture that is opposed to the chaos of the catastrophe: an unshakable core in a world that is shaking to its foundations. This pivot is the classical poise of the most complex composition, which saves the picture from the tragic feeling of hopelessness. The composition, built according to the "recipes" of academicians - ridiculed by subsequent generations of painters "triangles" into which groups of people fit, equilibrium masses on the right and left, is read in the lively tense context of the picture in a completely different way than in dry and deathly academic canvases.

A fragment of the picture: a young family.
In the foreground is a pavement damaged by an earthquake.
Fragment of the painting: the deceased Pompeian woman.

“The world is still harmonious in its foundations” - this feeling arises in the viewer subconsciously, partly contrary to what he sees on the canvas. The hopeful message of the artist is read not at the level of the plot of the painting, but at the level of its plastic solution.The violent romantic element is pacified by the classically perfect form, and in this unity of opposites there is another secret of the attractiveness of Bryullov's canvas.

The film tells many exciting and touching stories. Here a young man, in despair, peers into the face of a girl in a wedding crown, who has lost her feelings or died. Here is a young man convincing an old woman who is sitting exhausted of something. This couple is called "Pliny with his mother" (although, as we remember, Pliny the Younger was not in Pompeii, but in Miseno): in a letter to Tacitus, Pliny conveys his dispute with his mother, who urged her son to leave her and, without hesitation, run away. but he did not agree to leave the weak woman. A warrior in a helmet and a boy are carrying a sick old man; an infant who miraculously survived falling from a chariot embraces a dead mother; the young man threw up his hand, as if warding off the blow of the elements from his family, the baby in his wife's arms with childish curiosity reaches for the dead bird. People are trying to take away the most precious things: a pagan priest - a tripod, a Christian - a censer, an artist - brushes. The deceased woman was carrying jewelry, which, no one needed, is now lying on the pavement.


Detail of the painting: Pliny with his mother.
Fragment of the picture: earthquake - "idols are falling."

Such a powerful plot load on a painting can be dangerous for painting, making the canvas a "story in pictures", but in Bryullov's work, the literary quality and abundance of details do not destroy the artistic integrity of the painting. Why? We find the answer all in the same article by Gogol, who compares Bryullov's painting "in terms of the vastness and combination of everything beautiful with opera, if only opera is really a combination of the threefold world of arts: painting, poetry, music" (by poetry, Gogol obviously meant literature generally).

This feature of "Pompeii" can be summed up in one word - synthetics: the picture organically combines a dramatic plot, vivid entertainment and thematic polyphony, similar to music. (By the way, at the theatrical basis of the picture there was a real prototype - the opera by Giovanni Paccini "The Last Day of Pompeii", which during the years of the artist's work on the canvas was staged at the Neapolitan San Carlo Theater. Bryullov was well acquainted with the composer, listened to the opera several times and borrowed costumes for his sitters.)

William Turner. The eruption of Vesuvius. 1817 g.

So, the picture resembles the final scene of a monumental opera performance: the most expressive scenery is reserved for the finale, all plot lines are connected, and musical themes are woven into a complex polyphonic whole. This picture-play is similar to ancient tragedies, in which the contemplation of the nobility and courage of the heroes in the face of inexorable fate leads the viewer to catharsis - spiritual and moral enlightenment. The feeling of empathy that grips us in front of the picture is akin to what we experience in the theater, when what is happening on the stage touches us to tears, and these tears are gratifying to the heart.


Gavin Hamilton. Neapolitans watch the eruption of Vesuvius.
Second floor. 18th century

Bryullov's painting is breathtakingly beautiful: huge size - four and a half by six and a half meters, stunning "special effects", divinely folded people, like antique statues that have come to life. “His figures are beautiful for all the horror of their position. They drown it out with their beauty, ”wrote Gogol, sensitively capturing another feature of the picture - the aestheticization of the catastrophe. The tragedy of the death of Pompeii and, more broadly, the entire ancient civilization is presented to us as an incredibly beautiful sight. What are these contrasts of a black cloud pressing on the city, shining flames on the slopes of a volcano and mercilessly bright flashes of lightning, these statues captured at the very moment of the fall and crumbling like cardboard buildings ...

The perception of the eruptions of Vesuvius as grandiose performances staged by nature itself appeared already in the 18th century - even special machines were created to simulate the eruption. This "volcano fashion" was introduced by the British envoy to the Kingdom of Naples, Lord William Hamilton (husband of the legendary Emma, ​​friend of Admiral Nelson). A passionate volcanologist, he was literally in love with Vesuvius and even built a villa on the slope of the volcano to comfortably admire the eruptions. Observing the volcano when it was active (in the 18-19 centuries there were several eruptions), verbal descriptions and sketches of its changing beauties, climbing to the crater - these were the entertainment of the Neapolitan elite and visitors.

It is human to watch with bated breath for the disastrous and wonderful games of nature, even if for this you have to balance at the mouth of an active volcano. This is the same "rapture in battle and a dark abyss on the edge", which Pushkin wrote about in "Little Tragedies", and which Bryullov conveyed in his canvas, which has made us admire and horrified for almost two centuries.


Modern Pompeii

Marina Agranovskaya