Re: Paintings depicting scenes from European history
Last Day of Pompeii (24 August, 79 AD)
Author: Karl Briullov
Year: 1833
Location: State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg
In St Petersburg the Russian painter Bryullov was among the many Romantics who turned anew to the ruins of Pompeii - originally discovered in 1748 but now the subject of fresh study and excavation - for the quintessential subject of a civilization at the point of destruction. His huge Last Day of Pompeii was finished in 1833, a year before Lord Lytton published his famous novel on the same theme. That Pompeii was obliterated by a natural catastrophe, suggestive of divine retribution, only added to its significance.
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"Do not be suprised, my friend, that I long so much for remote lands in which people feel immensely rich with very little; it is true that I live in Rome enjoying a life of fame and prestige, but it is also true that I was born from Celts and Iberians."
--Marcus Valerius Martialis, Epigrammata
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