We can see an old man trying to hide from the deadly sky a mother is asking her son to run and to save himself and even Bryullov himself – the Pompeian artist with a bucket of paint over his head. In The Last Day of Pompeii, emotion prevails over accuracy. Furthermore Bryullov loved Giovanni Pacini’s opera L’ultimo giorno di Pompei on the same plot and thus used the same name for his painting. He was impressed by the sight of the excavated dead city of Pompeii, which was destroyed in the 1st century by the eruption of Mt Vesuvius. This painting was also made during Bryullov’s Roman Holidays. The State Russian Museum highlights: Karl Bryullov, The Last Day of Pompeii, 1830-1833, The State Russian Museum, Saint Petersburg, Russia. Read more about Russian painters in Italy here. Bryullov replied that one needs classical accuracy in statues but not in his light, close-to-nature painting of an Italian beauty. The painting was criticized by the Imperial Society: the model was said to not be graceful and did not correspond to the “classical ideals” of beauty. Bryullov painted Italian Midday when he was in Italy on an educational trip. He was credited with the renewal of Russian painting, a turn from routine to variety.
None of the Russian artists claimed such honors during their lifetimes as Karl Bryullov. The State Russian Museum highlights: Karl Bryullov, Italian Midday, 1827, The State Russian Museum, Saint Petersburg, Russia.