The Last Day of Pompeii is a large history painting by Karl Bryullov produced in 1830–1833 on the subject of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79. It is notable for its positioning between Neoclassicism, the predominant style in Russia at the time, and Romanticism as increasingly practised in France.
The painting was received to near universal acclaim and made Bryullov the first Russian painter to have an international reputation. In Russia, it was seen as proving that Russian art was as good as art practised in the rest of Europe. It inspired Edward Bulwer-Lytton's world-famous novel The Last Days of Pompeii. Critics in France and Russia both noted, however, that the perfection of the classically modelled bodies seemed to be out of keeping with their desperate plight and the overall theme of the painting, which was a Romantic one of the sublime power of nature to destroy man's creations.
Background
thumb|[[Luigi Rossini, Via dei Sepolcri in Pompei, engraving, Rome, 1830]]
The Roman city of Pompeii, south of Naples, was under active excavation in the early 19th century, work having begun on the city and its neighbour Herculaneum in the middle of the previous century. Artists were well aware of its potential as a subject. John Martin had painted The Destruction of Pompeii and Herculaneum in 1822 and others had sketched and produced engravings of the site. Aleksandr was a participant in a scientific study and restoration of the Pompeii baths in 1825–26, and Karl may have visited Pompeii in 1824.
thumb|[[Raphael, The School of Athens, fresco, 1509–1511, Apostolic Palace, Vatican City. An example for Bryullov of what could be achieved in history painting for which 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, and for whom he painted an equestrian portrait the same year. It was to be completed by 1830 for the sum of 40,000 francs,
thumb|[[Alessandro Sanquirico's set design for the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in Pacini's opera L'ultimo giorno di Pompei, 1827, La Scala production]]
Subject and composition
The subject is the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79 that enveloped the city of Pompeii in volcanic ash, killing most of its inhabitants. As a scene from the ancient world it was an appropriate subject for a history painting, then regarded as the highest genre of painting, and the magnitude of the event also made it suitable for a large canvas that would allow Bryullov to showcase all his skills. and he used classical forms recognisable as those used by the Renaissance masters, but combined them with features found in Romantic painting, such as dramatic colouring, the use of chiaroscuro, and a high emotional content. Other works thought to have influenced Bryullov are Raphael's The Fire in the Borgo (1514–17) and Nicolas Poussin's ' (1630). Rosalind Blakesley attributes this slightly behind-the-times feel to the isolation of contemporary Russian art teaching from the latest French developments since the start of the nineteenth century and the tensions inherent in the work between neo-classicism and romanticism. Bryullov was made an honorary free associate of the academy and awarded the Order of St Anne, third class. He was made a professor at the academy in Saint Petersburg and placed in charge of history painting. He met the Tsar. Ivan Turgenev described the painting as "the glory of Russia and Italy" and it inspired Alexander Pushkin to write a poem about the destruction of Pompeii. The dissident Alexander Herzen, meanwhile, saw it as an allegory about the collapse of European monarchies
After his great success with The Last Day of Pompeii, Bryullov was expected to produce similar large works of history, but most of his attempts remained unfinished and he was criticised for his ', which was completed in only 17 days in 1834. Instead he found success in portraits of the Russian elite including the royal family.
Ownership
In 1834, Demidov presented the painting, for which he had paid 25,000 rubles, to Tsar Nicholas in an attempt to win his favour. It was at first exhibited in the Winter Palace, but in 1836 Nicholas donated it to the Imperial Academy of Arts where it remained until it was installed as the centre of the Russian painting display at the New Hermitage in 1851.
File:Detail of The Last Day of Pompeii (4).jpg|Statues topple from their pedestals showing the sublime power of nature over man.
File:Detail of The Last Day of Pompeii (5).jpg|Stone work and pavements similar to those at Pompeii.
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