Karl Pavlovich Brulloff (also rendered Briullov, although he himself used the "Bruloff" spelling) was a Russian painter of the first half of the 19th Century, one of the transitional artists between the schools of neoclassicism and romanticism and the first Russian painter to gain widespread recognition in the West. His contemporaries called him The Great Karl. His masterpiece The Last Day of Pompeii (1830-1833), an enormous composition painted in Italy in 1830-1833, was a great success both with the public and the critics and the painter was hailed as one of the best contemporary European painters. Italian critics compared Brulloff to the greatest artists of the past, such as Rubens, Rembrandt, and Van Dyke.
Karl Brulloff (Brullo until 1822, when the family name was changed to a more Russian style) was born in 1799 in St. Petersburg into a family of Italian extraction. His great grand-father, grand-father, father and two elder brothers Fedor and Alexander were all painters. His father was a member of the Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg, which is where Karl and his brothers received their education.
Karl entered the Academy in 1809. His talent and heritage told immediately and Brulloff advanced much faster than his fellow students. At the time, education in the academy was based on the principles of Classicism, and Brullof's early works reflect this clearly. However, the political and social changes that the French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars had perpetrated in Europe were beginning to manifest themselves in fashions and artistic tastes. This was the beginning of the Romantic movement in both art and literature. One of Brulloff's early notable pictures Narcissus (1819), while painted in accordance with Classical principles in every regard, was unorthodox in its execution because the painter sought inspiration for the work in nature -- something that would be characteristic of the later Romantics.
However, it would be some time before Briulloff would break from the constraints of Classicism completely. His graduation work Three Angels Appear to Abraham near the Oaks of Mamre, while executed with technical brilliance, is otherwise quite conventional: the model work of a model student. Briulloff received a gold medal for it.
In 1821, Brulloff graduated from the Academy with distinguish. During the short period when he worked independently in the years 1821-1823, it is easy to observe his rapid shift from Classicism to Romanticism. The artist focused primarily on the portrait, an branch of painting that was frowned upon in the Academy as low, but which was central to the Romantic idealization of the human figure. Some of these works are the Portrait of the Secretary of State Piotr Kikin, Brulloff's patron, and his wife M.A. Kikina, and their daughter Maria Kikina, and the Portrait of the Actor A.N. Ramazanov.
In 1822, Karl, along with his brother Alexander, was sent to Europe to study art there, as pensioners of the newly-created Society for the Promotion of Artists. True to his Classical education, Brulloff frowned upon anything that went against Classical ideals, expressing this disdain in letters that he wrote home. The two artists travelled through Germany, Austria, Venice and Florence, eventually arriving in Rome. Just like his Romantic contemporaries, Bruloff found the city irresistable.
In total, Brulloff spent a total of 13 years in Italy, studying the art of antiquity, copying the works of old masters in the museums and making a lot of drawings in the streets of Rome. He painted portraits, both ceremonial and intimate ones, and created a series of genre scenes of everyday Roman life. The most important of his genre works was Italian Midday (1827). In Italy Brulloff created over 120 portraits in various techniques. Among them are portraits of the Russian aristocracy residing in Italy, as well as painters, sculptors, writers, etc., and also Italian statesmen and artists. Among the most notable are portraits of Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna, Prince G. Gagarin, Countess Yu. Samoilova and her foster children, Princess Z. Volkonskaya, Bruloff's brother Alexander, A. Lvov, Architect K. A. Ton, Italian singers Juditta Pasta and Fanny Persiani-Tacinardi and many others. He also painted several self-portraits, some of them were commissioned by the Uffizi Gallery. It was here that Brulloff met the countess Yulia Samoilova, who became his life-long mistress. The two were unable to make their relationship official, as Samoilova was already married, though she and her husband had separated, and divorce was not allowed under the laws of the Orthodox Church.
One of the requirements of the Society for the Promotion of Artists for its pensioners was to paint a large historical picture. In 1827, Brulloff visited the excavation site of Pompeii, a town destroyed and buried under a layer of ash during an eruption of the volcano Vesuvius on August 24, 79 A.D. Brulloff was greatly impressed when he saw the town, perfectly preserved under the ash. The cataclysm had been so sudden, that life had simply stopped, as if frozen in time. Six years would pass between the conception of the idea and its materialization. After the first sketches had been done, Brulloff began studying the artifacts found in the excavations and historical documents, such as the letters of Pliny the Younger, who was an eye-witness of the event. It is believed that the young man persuading his mother to come with him in the right part of the picture is Pliny himself. The Last Day of Pompeii(1830-1833) was a huge success in Italy because of the way it blended Classical principles with Romantic ideals. It was also exhibited in the Louvre, Paris, but its reception there was lukewarm: in France, the transition stage between Classicism and Romanticism had been passed long since.
When the painting arrived in St.Petersburg, it impressed the public profoundly, and made Brulloff's reputation as the foremost Russian painter of his day. Critics lavished the Last Day of Pompeii with praise, and Pushkin was inspired to write a poem on the subject. When Brulloff returned to Russia in 1835, the Academy of Arts organized a reception in his honor, and he was even granted an audience with Czar Nicholas I.
In 1836, Brulloff was appointed a professor at the Academy. His fame as an made him very much in demand, and when it turned out that he was also an excellent teacher, interested in the success of each and every one of his students, this was only augmented. In the years that followed he painted mostly portraits. Among the best portraits of this period are those of Author Nestor Kukolnic, Count A. A. Perovsky (the Author Anton Pogorelsky) and his nephew future Poet and Playwright Alexey Tolstoy, Author A. N. Strugovshchikov, Princess Ye. P. Saltykova, Countess Yu. P. Samoylova. Brulloff was expected to create more large historical paintings in the style of The Last Day of Pompeii, but though the artists started working on several such works, none went beyond sketches. None of the subjects he tried to paint -- the siege of Pskov by the Polish King Stefan Batori, the invasion of Rome by Henserix and the Napoleonic War of 1812 -- inspired him as Pompeii had.
By the late 1840s, Brulloff's health was deteriorating due to his unrestrained lifestyle, unhappy marriage and his hard work on frescoes in St. Isaac's Cathedral in St. Petersburg, which he was unable to finish. In 1849, the painter went abroad, in the hopes that warmer climes would help his recovery. Brulloff visited Germany and England, went to Madeira, where he spent one year and his health seemed to genuinely improve, and his last two years in Rome. He created several excellent works during these years, including portraits of members of the Tittoni family, with whom he was very close. He died of a stroke in Rome on June 23, 1852.
Also see Brulloff's
portrait by Vasily Tropinin.
Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna (1806-1873)
- a daughter of the Duke of Wurttemberg, was born Frederica Charlotte Maria.
After her marriage to the Grand Duke Mikhail Pavlovich (the younger son
of Russian Emperor Paul I and brother to Alexander I and Nicholas I) she
took the name of Elena Pavlovna. She was brought up and educated in Paris.
After her marriage she became a patroness of several charity organizations
and a prominent socialite, playing a prominent part in the process of liberation
of Russian serfs.
See: Karl Brulloff. Portrait of Grand
Duchess Elena Pavlovna and Her Daughter Maria.
Countess Yulia Samoilova (née Palen,
1803-1875) was a rich heiress and Brulloff's mistress. After her first
marriage to Count N. Samoilov, which ended with a permanent separation,
she traveled all over Europe, living mostly in Italy and Paris. She met
Brulloff in Rome and they fell in love. She supported him throughout his
life and he painted numerous portraits of her. Unfortunately, they could
not marry because divroce was illegal under the tenets of the Orthodox
church. We can see her face in The Last
Day of Pompeii as the mother with two daughters, as the dead
woman in the center of the picture and several others.
See: Karl Brulloff. Rider. Portrait
of Giovanina and Amacilia Pacini, the Foster Children of Countess Yu. P.
Samoilova. Portrait of Countess Yu. P. Samoilova
and Her Ward Amacilia Pacini Leaving a Ball.
Count Carlo Andrea Pozzo di Borgo (1764-1842)
was born on Corsica. He was the president of the Corsican council and secretary
of state, but had to flee from the rule of the Bonapartes, and joined the
Russian diplomatic service in 1803. He worked with great dedication to
unite Napoleon's enemies. He represented Russia in Paris, the Congress
of Vienna, and the Congress of Verona, and was the Russian ambassador to
London.
See: Karl Brulloff. Portrait of Count
C. A. Pozzo di Borgo.
Count Alexey Perovsky (the writer Anton Pogorelsky)
(1789-1836)
was an illegitimate son of Count Alexey Razumovsky, brother of Count
Vasily Perovsky. He was the author of the well known children's book
"Black Hen, or Underground People". He raised his nephew Count
Alexey Tolstoy (1817-1875), who became a well known poet and playwright,
authoring several poems and the famous plays "The Death of Ioann the Terrible",
"Tzar Feodor Ioannovich" and "Tzar Boris".
See: Alexander Brulloff. Portrait
of Count A. A. Perovsky (the Writer Anton Pogorelsky).
Princess Zinaida Volkonskaya (1792-1862),
née Princess Beloselskaya-Belozerskaya, was the wife of Prince Nicholas
Volkonsky, an acknowledged beauty of her time. She was a well-educated,
intelligent woman, patroness and collector of arts and also an author,
actress and singer herself. She was a prominent socialite in St. Petersburg,
Moscow, and also in Rome, where she spent the last 40 years of her life.
Her parties in Rome were frequented by outstanding people of her time.
The renowned composer J. Rossini adapted his opera Tankred for one
such party, with the princess singing the main part, and F. Mendelson,
another famous musician, participating in the show.
See Feodor Bruni. Portrait
of Princess Zinaida Volkonskaya in a Costume of Tankred.
Karl Brulloff. Portrait of Princess
Z. A. Volkonskaya.
Ivan Beck - Russian poet and translator. He
translated Faust by Goethe into Russian. Brulloff also painted a
portrait of his wife Maria Beck with their
daughter.
See: Karl Brulloff. Portrait of I.
A. Beck. Portrait of M. A. Beck and
Her Daughter M.I. Beck.
Alexander Strugovshchikov (1808-1878) - Russian
poet, translator and publisher. He translated the works of Goethe and Schiller.
See: Karl Brulloff. Portrait of the
Poet and Translator A. N. Strugovshchikov.
Nestor Kukolnic (1809-1868) - Russian poet
and playwright. This portrait was very popular and was mentioned in Demons
by F. Dostoevsky.
See: Karl Brulloff. Portrait of the
Poet and Playwrigh Nestor Kukolnic.
Kikin, Peotr Andreevich
(1775-1834) was one of 12 children of Major Secundus Andrey Ivanovich (1745-1790)
and his wife Maria Feodorovna, née Yermolova. He was educated at
a private boarding school in Moscow, and then went to study in the Moscow
University. He started a career in the army, participating in the Napoleonic
Wars. In 1816, he entered the civil service, he was a state secretary in
one of the ministries, later becoming State Councilor. In 1820, together
with prince I.A. Gagarin and A.I. Dmitriyev-Mamonov they organized the
Society for Promotion of Artists, of which he was the bursar and patron;
he was also a chairman of the department in Independent Economic Society
and member of the Imperial Agricultural Society. He retired in 1826 as
a senator. Kikin was married to Maria Ardalionovna, nee Torsukova; he had
a daughter named Maria Petrovna (1816-1854), who later married prince D.
P. Volkonsky.
See: Karl Brulloff. Portrait of the
Secretary of State Piotr Kikin. Portrait
of M. A. Kikina.
Obolensky, Mikhail Andreyevich
(1811-1866), prince, son of prince Andrey Petrovich Obolensky (1769-1852).
See: Karl Brulloff. Portrait of M.
A. Obolensky.
Naryshkin, Kirill Alexandrovich
(1786-1838), Oberhofmarschal, member of the State Council, married to Maria
Yakovlevna, née Lobanova-Rostovskaya (1789-1854).
See: Karl Brulloff. Portrait of K.
A. and M. Ya. Narishkin.
Olenin, Grigoriy Nikanorovich (1797-1843),
military officer and Russian in diplomat. He retired from the armed forces
in 1827 in the rank of captain. After 1830, he was a special officer in
the Ministry of Finance. He later became an assistant of the State Secretary
in the State Council. Olenin was also an amateur artist. He married to
Varvara Alexeevna (1802-1877), daughter of Alexey Nikolayevich and Yelena
Markovna Olenins.
See: Karl Brulloff. Portrait of G.
N. and V. A. Olenin.
Basin, Piotr Vasilyevich (1793-1877),
Russian artist who painted historical and bible subjects in a neo-classical
style. He participated in the decoration of the Kazansky and St. Isaac's
cathedrals in St. Petersburg.
See: Karl Brulloff. Portrait of P.
V. Basin.
Kornilov, Vladimir Alexeevich
(1806-1854), naval officer, promoted to the rank of vice-admiral in 1852.
He participated in the Russo-Turkish war of 1828-29. In 1849, he was appointed
chief of staff, and in 1851, he became chief commander of the Black Sea
Navy. During the Crimean War (1853-1856), he was one of the officers in
charge of Sevastopol’s defense, where he was killed in action (1854).
See: Karl Brulloff. Portrait of V.
A. Kornilov on Board the Brig Themistocles.
Krylov, Ivan Andreevich (1769-1844),
Russian satirist, journalist and a writer of fables. He entered the civil
service at an early age, but soon turned to satirical journalism. After
his magazine, the St. Petersburg Mercury, was closed down by censors, be
abandoned literature until 1805, when he translated his first fable by
La Fontaine. In 1809, his book of 23 fables, some still based on la Fontaine,
met with enormous success. He wrote more than 200 fables in all, and their
common sense, universality, and linguistic vigor has secured their continuing
popularity. Many of their conclusions and morals have become proverbial
in Russia. In 1841, he was elected Academician of the St. Petersburg Academy
of Arts. His fables have been translated into a multitude of languages,
including English.
See: Karl Brulloff. Portrait of I.
A. Krylov.
Bibliogaphy:
Karl Brulloff. by E. Atsarkina. Moscow. 1963. (in Russian)
Karl Brulloff in St. Petersburg. by A. Kornilova. Leningrad.
1976. (in Russian)
Russian Historical Painting. by M. Rakova. Moscow. Iskusstvo.
1979. (in Russian)
Brulloff. by G.Leontyeva. Russian Painters. Leningrad. 1986.
(in Russian)
Karl Brulloff. Moscow. Izobrazitelnoe Iskusstvo. 1988. (in Russian)
Famous Russians in the 18th and 19th centuries. St. Petersburg.
1996. (in Russian).
The
Art and Architecture of Russia (Pelican History Art) by George
Heard Hamilton. Yale Univ Pr, 1992.
A
Dictionary of Russian and Soviet Artists 1420-1970 by John
Milner. Antique Collectors' Club, 1993.