Vespers Karl Pavlovich Bryullov (1799-1852)

Description of Karl Bryullov’s painting Vespers

К. Briullov painted Vespers in 1925. This was the time of his formation as an artist, acquiring his own genre and style. During these years the artist was impressed by the art of ancient Rome. Visiting Italy, the artist admired it. He wrote pictures on the basis of these impressions - bright and thematic. Briullov was inspired by the history of great Rome, its art, literature and Baroque architecture.

In the painting "Vespers," Briullov depicts kneeling Christians during an evening service in the temple. In the foreground of the painting, the viewer sees people kneeling at the entrance to the church. On the lower step sits a poorly dressed woman with a baby struggling out of her arms. The little one is not too disposed to listen to sermons and prayers; he is beckoned to play and run around. Both are dressed in brown clothes, with the mother wearing a light-colored headdress. The mother looks with reverence and interest into the depths of the church.

Next, a venerable gray-haired man in a white robe kneels on the step above. One step up is a noble Italian woman in a motley blue and red robe. The blush on her cheeks indicated that her thoughts were not currently occupied by divine service. At the top of the stairs is a mature man dressed in striped black and red. The figures, painted by the artist, are beautiful and reek of nobility.

You can see that there is a whole crowd of people in front of them in the temple hall. They are hidden by shadows, Bryullov does not paint them. Also in the foreground of the painting, the artist pays attention to the architecture of the temple. He zealously paints the column at the entrance to the church and one of the outer walls of the building. In the background, the viewer can see the interior decoration of the church illuminated by many lit candles.

Painting "Vespers" written in the genre of neoclassicism. The work is stored in Moscow, in the Tretyakov Gallery.