The Last Day of Pompeii

• 1. Arrival In Rome

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  Karl Bryullov arrived in Rome with his brother Aleksandr via Venice and Florence in 1823. He saw Alessandro Sanquirico's set designs for Giovanni Pacini's opera L'ultimo giorno di Pompei that year. The opera was performed at Naples and at La Scala, Milan. Bryullov visited the Naples museum to study artefacts recovered from Pompeii. He certainly visited Pompeii in 1827 according to Rosalind Blakesley. He was so affected by the remains of the Via dei Sepolcri that he decided to set his painting in that street. Contemporary letters indicate that he studied Pliny the Younger's eye-witness description of the disaster. Pliny's uncle died during the eruption while Pliny wrote observations in his letters to Tacitus.

• 2. Compositional Evolution

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  Bryullov painted a compositional sketch in 1828 at the request of Countess Maria Razumovskaya. The main canvas was commissioned by Count Anatoly Demidov whom Bryullov had met in Naples. They painted an equestrian portrait together the same year. It was to be completed by 1830 for the sum of 40,000 francs. By the end of that year Bryullov had only got as far as outlining the figures on the canvas in two colours. He gave little attention to colour choices until a trip to Bologna and Venice. There he saw work by Tintoretto and Titian which gave him the answers he needed. Bryullov said that he could only have completed the work with the example of Raphael's large and complex work The School of Athens as his model.

• 3. Neoclassical Meets Romantic

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  The painting bridges Neoclassicism and Romanticism through dramatic lighting techniques. Bryullov used classical forms recognisable as those used by Renaissance masters. He combined them with features found in Romantic painting such as dramatic colouring. He employed chiaroscuro and high emotional content throughout the scene. Nikolai Gogol commented that his colouring was possibly brighter than it has ever been. His paints burn and hit you in the eye according to the writer. Bryullov eschewed the coolness and flatness of then-prevalent Neoclassicism in favour of excitement. He created vibrant colour combined with deep recession as a horse bolts into the depths of the painting. A horse unseats its master while statues topple from their pedestals bringing additional drama.

• 4. Vignettes Of Suffering

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  Bryullov filled the canvas with authentic detail from Pompeii that he had seen at the site. He included artefacts carried by figures and authentic paving and kerb stones from the museum at Naples. Statues toppling from their pedestals demonstrate the sublime power of nature over man. The figures provide small vignettes of individual experience referencing stories from classical mythology. Some characters preserve their dignity in the face of death indicating Bryullov's great debt to Classicism. Poses and figures are drawn from classical painting or from people the artist knew. Yuliya Samoylova and her daughters appear among the crowd. The soldier and boy rescuing an older man may derive from the story of Aeneas's rescue of his father from Troy. An image of the artist himself appears as a Pompeian artist with equipment balanced on his head.

• 5. International Acclaim And Critique

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  When first shown at Bryullov's studio in Italy on Via San Claudio in Rome it received rapturous response. Sir Walter Scott studied the painting for an hour before declaring it was not ordinary but epic. Vincenzo Camuccini described it as a flaming colossus. The Italian archaeologist Pietro Ercole Visconti wrote an article praising the painter and the painting. In Milan Bryullov was given a standing ovation in a theatre and carried through streets wearing flowers. Edward Bulwer-Lytton saw it there whose novel The Last Days of Pompeii was published in 1834. Reception cooled slightly when displayed at Paris Salon of 1834 though it won gold medal. Critics saw it as outdated compared to Eugène Delacroix's Femmes d'Alger dans leur Appartement exhibited alongside it. One critic in L'Artiste noted the impression is less akin to terror than ridicule.

• 6. Russian National Identity

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  The painting arrived in Russia in August 1834 receiving enthusiasm equal to that in Italy. Gogol said it pleased both those with refined taste and those ignorant of art. Bryullov became honorary free associate of academy and awarded Order of St Anne third class. He became professor at academy in Saint Petersburg placed in charge of history painting. He met Tsar Nicholas who received the painting from Demidov in 1834 for 25,000 rubles. Ivan Turgenev described painting as glory of Russia and Italy. Alexander Pushkin wrote poem about destruction of Pompeii inspired by work. Russians saw painting elevating status of Russian art in Europe generally. It elevated status of painters in Russia while Gogol called it bright resurrection of painting. Dissident Alexander Herzen saw allegory about collapse of European monarchies or tyrannical power of state over individual.