Bryullov is a genius. His great aspirations found a way out in the beautiful creations of fine art. His skill is undeniable. When I look at The Last Day of Pompeii, I feel the whole fragility of human life, all the inevitable variability of deceptive constancy, which happy people strive with trepidation and tenderness. Nothing is eternal, and nothing will ever be the same, no matter how hard people try to keep their peace. The dimensionality and serenity of the inhabitants of Pompeii collapsed on the same day in 1779: the eruption of Vesuvius consumed all their hopes for a bright future. The culture of ancient Pompeii on the canvas of the magnificent creator - Karl Pavlovich Bryullov - captivates me with its pomp and beauty.
My heart burns with a fire of despair when I try to imagine what these people experienced. After all, it was all really! And the author of this creation must have felt the same way when he spent hours poring over the sources of the history of this city, when he studied their culture and way of life. For example, the artist has repeatedly re-read the ancient writer Pliny the Younger, who saw the death of Pompeii with his own eyes. This great tragedy inspired the minds of many brilliant creators. Bryullov more than once went to the ruins of the ancient city, studied what was left of him, and must have imagined it safe and sound. Yes, he devoted a lot of time to studying all the details for the embodiment of the image in the film "The Last Day of Pompeii."
So the artist was preparing to implement his idea. And so, the autumn of 1833 came. The great painter finally opened the doors of the workshop, in which magic was performed every second of the painting "The Last Day of Pompeii". Numerous fans of his works presented a canvas of colossal dimensions of thirty square meters. He worked on the painting for three whole years, and the end result exceeded all expectations. "The Last Day of Pompeii" is the artist’s first work, which caused a powerful resonance, first in Rome and then in the Paris
Louvre: the picture was exhibited with honor and earned only positive feedback.
It is interesting that all the women depicted in this picture were painted from one person. Many sources indicate that this mysterious woman is Countess Samoilova, whom Bryullov loved. "The Last Day of Pompeii" - a work that was created with great difficulty, devotion and love of the artist to the visual arts.
Bryullov's painting aroused admiration of many other artists of that time: they called him the second Raphael; he was awarded the honorary title of many European Academies and the
gold medal of the Royal Academy of Arts in France. The painting "The Last Day of Pompeii" has visited Milan, Rome and Paris, and now it is in the State Russian Museum of St. Petersburg, which evokes pleasant patriotic feelings in me. The artist Karl Pavlovich Bryullov captivated me with the accuracy of execution, with the splendor of an extraordinary mind that brought the miracle to life.