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(2) Karl (Pavlovich) Bryullov
(b St Petersburg, 12 Dec 1799; d Marciano, nr Rome, 12 June 1852). Painter. Brother of (1) Aleksandr Bryullov. He showed an outstanding talent for drawing at an early age and at the Academy of Arts, St Petersburg, won the gold medal for his oil painting the Appearance of Three Angels to Abraham (1821; St Petersburg, Rus. Mus.). Thanks to the patronage of the newly established Society for the Encouragement of the Arts he spent two years travelling round Europe with his brother and then settled in Rome, where they were rapturously received by various members of the Russian nobility. This patronage proved to be very beneficial, and Bryullov soon developed into one of the most outstanding portraitists of his time. He excelled in both intimate watercolours, such as the portrait of G. N. and V. A. Olenins (1827; Moscow, Tret’yakov Gal.), and more ceremonial portraits, such as Countess Samoilov Leaving the Ball (c. 1839; St Petersburg, Rus. Mus.) and Giovanna Paccini on Horseback (or ‘The Rider’, 1832; Moscow, Tret’yakov Gal.). His first genre picture, Italian Morning (1823; St Petersburg, Rus. Mus.), which showed a nude at a fountain, revealed a strong debt to the Bolognese school and was generally acclaimed, especially by Emperor Alexander I (reg 1801–25), to whom it was presented. On the Emperor’s suggestion Bryullov painted its pendant, Italian Noon (1827; St Petersburg, Rus. Mus.), which, however, met with open hostility for its triviality and for its deviation from the classical ideal. Although Bryullov defended his right to draw inspiration from nature, the rebuke greatly affected him, and he subsequently restricted his interests in genre to a series of small watercolours.
Part of the Bryullov family
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