"The death of Pompeii" can be called one of the little-known masterpieces of Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky. The historical event, the tragedy of the ancient city, inspired the painter to approach the plot with new thoughts.
Artist
Ivan Aivazovsky, or Hovhannes Ayvazyan, was and remains one of the most famous marinists in Russia. His seascapes are loved and appreciated throughout the world. Works exhibited at popular auctions Sotheby's and Christie's for millions of British pounds .
Born in 1817, Ivan Konstantinovich lived eighty-three years and died a peaceful death in a dream.
Hovhannes was born into a merchant family of Armenians from Galicia. The famous artist later recalled that his father was the first to move away from his roots and even tried to pronounce his surname in the Polish manner. Ivan was proud of his educated parent, who knew several languages.
From his birth, Aivazovsky lived in Feodosia. His talents for art were early noticed by architect Jacob Koch. It was he who began to teach Ivan painting.
The mayor of Sevastopol, having seen the gift of the future master, also took part in his formation as an artist. Thanks to the efforts of the head of the city, young talent was sent to study for free in St. Petersburg. Like many other famous Russian artists, Aivazovsky was a native of the Art Academy. She largely influenced the preferences of the classic marine painter.
Style
The Art Academy in St. Petersburg helped shape the style of Aivazovsky, thanks to his studies with Johann Gross, Philip Tanner, Alexander Sauerveid.
Having drawn "Calm", Ivan Konstantinovich in 1837 received a gold medal and the right to go to Europe.
After that, Aivazovsky returns to the Crimea, to his homeland. There, he painted seascape for two years, and also helps the army in battles against the enemy. Emperor Nicholas the First bought one of his paintings of that period.
Upon his return to Petersburg, he was awarded the noble title. In addition, he makes such eminent friends as Karl Bryullov and composer Mikhail Glinka.
Wanderings
In 1840, Aivazovsky’s pilgrimage to Italy began. On the way to the capital, Ivan and his friend Vasily Sternberg call in Venice. There they meet another representative of the Russian elite, Gogol. The artist Aivazovsky, whose paintings have already become famous in the Russian Empire, has visited many Italian cities, visited Florence, Rome. He stayed in Sorrento for a long time.
For many months Aivazovsky stayed with his brother, who became a monk, on the island of St. Lazarus. There he talked with the English poet George Byron.
The work "Chaos" was bought from him by Pope Gregory of the Sixteenth. Critics favored Aivazovsky, and the Paris Academy of Art even handed him a medal of merit.
In 1842, the marine painter left Italy. Having crossed Switzerland and the Rhine, he travels to Holland, later to Great Britain. On the way back he visits Paris, Spain and Portugal. Four years later, he is back in Russia.
Aivazovsky, living in St. Petersburg, became an honorary professor at the academy in this city, as well as in Paris, Rome, Stuttgart, Florence and Amsterdam. He continued to paint marine paintings. On his account more than 6,000 landscapes.
Since 1845, he lived in Feodosia, where he founded his own school, helped create a gallery, and initiated the construction of a railway. After death, the unfinished painting “Explosion of a Turkish ship” remained.
Famous paintings
Aivazovsky’s paintings were beloved by representatives of all classes of the Russian Empire, and later the Soviet Union. In almost every modern family, at least one reproduction of Ivan Konstantinovich is kept at home.
His name has long been a mark of the highest quality among marine painters. The most popular are the following works of the artist:
- The Ninth Wave.
- Pushkin's Farewell to the Sea, which he wrote with Repin.
- "Rainbow".
- "Moonlit Night on the Bosphorus."
- Among the masterpieces that Aivazovsky wrote is The Death of Pompeii.
- "View of Constantinople and the Bosphorus."
- "Black Sea".
These paintings appeared even on postage stamps. They were copied, embroidered with a cross and stitch.
Confusion
Interestingly, many confuse the “Pompeii Doom”. The picture, who wrote it, not everyone knows, has nothing to do with Bryullov’s canvas. His work is called "The Last Day of Pompeii."
Karl Pavlovich wrote it in 1833. It depicts ancient people fleeing an erupting volcano. In Bryullov, the inhabitants of Pompeii find themselves locked in the city itself. The Death of Pompeii, the description of the picture is very different, conveys a completely different idea.
Aivazovsky’s landscape was painted in 1889, much later than his predecessor. It is likely that, being a friend of Bryullov, the marine painter could be inspired by the same chosen theme of the tragedy of the ancient period.
History of the painting
The most uncharacteristic work of Aivazovsky is considered "The Death of Pompeii." The painting was created in 1889. He took the plot from history as the basis. What happened to the city is still considered one of the largest natural disasters in the world. Pompeii, once a beautiful ancient settlement, was located near Naples, near an active volcano. In 79, an eruption began, which claimed hundreds of lives. Description of the painting by Aivazovsky helps to convey all these events.
If Bryullov showed in his canvas how the city itself and the people inside it could look, then Aivazovsky emphasized the sea.
"The death of Pompeii." Picture: who wrote and what he wanted to say
As a marine painter, Ivan Konstantinovich focused on conveying the plot outside the city. History already tells us how the death of Pompeii ends. The painting was painted in very dark scarlet tones, symbolizing all human lives, buried alive under a layer of lava.
The central figure of the canvas is the sea, along which ships sail. In the distance you can see the city illuminated by lava. The sky is dark with smoke.
Despite all the horror of this event, Aivazovsky gives some hope for a brighter future by showing ships full of rescued people.
Ivan Konstantinovich wanted to convey the despair of those who saw the death of Pompeii. The picture is not focused on the faces of dying people. Nevertheless, it seems that the hot sea speaks of all the tragedy and horror of the situation. Crimson, black and yellow colors predominate on the canvas.
In the central plan are two large ships that fight the sea waves. A few more are seen in the distance, hurrying to leave the place of death, in which the inhabitants of the city forever frozen on the canvas "The Death of Pompeii".
If you look closely, at the top, in the rings of smoke there is an erupting volcano, from which pour on ancient temples and houses of the lava river. Aivazovsky enhanced the effect of presence by adding many black dots of ash settling into the water throughout the picture.
See the picture
“The death of Pompeii” - a painting painted in oil paints on a regular canvas 128 by 218 cm in size, is stored in Rostov.
It is an integral part of the collection of the Rostov Regional Museum of Fine Arts. It receives visitors every day from 10.00 a.m. to 18.00 p.m. The museum is closed only on Tuesdays. Address: Pushkinskaya street, 115.
The cost of a regular ticket without benefits will cost the visitor 100 rubles. Children who do not yet go to school will need to pay 10 rubles. Students can pay an entrance ticket of 25 rubles. Students pay 50 rubles, and pensioners 60 rubles.
The museum’s collection also contains other paintings by Aivazovsky, such as The Sea and Moonlit Night. Nevertheless, the pearl of the collection is Pompeii's Death. The description of the picture gives a clear idea of how formidable nature can be.