Portrait of Countess Julia Samoilova, moving away from the ball with the stepdaughter Amatsiliey Pachchini. Karl Pavlovich Bryullov (1799-1852)

Description of Karl Bryullov’s painting "Portrait of Countess Samoilova".

Karl Bryullov was the son of a sculptor and showed a talent for drawing at an early age. He was a follower of Romanticism - but unlike Western Romanticism, where harmony, beauty and a positive attitude toward the world triumph, late Russian Romanticism manifested itself with tragic intonations and a general sense of the tragedy of life. Also Russian Romanticism is characterized by an interest in strong feelings and emotions that manifest themselves in spades and situations. In this case, drama in the description of unusual topics is inevitable. The artist successfully combined all these hallmarks of the genre with the classically perfect faces and plastique of his characters. In addition to large genre works, Bryullov created a large number of portraits, both of famous figures of Russian culture and of his acquaintances and pals. In addition to oil painting, he successfully painted in watercolor.

Julia Pavlovna Samoilova was a close friend of Briullov’s; rumor has attributed to them a love affair. Independent, educated and unpredictable, Yulia Pavlovna had many fleeting affairs; she did not need money, and led a truly brilliant life. The lovers did not encroach on each other’s private lives and met with others in parallel. Charles often painted his girlfriend, and not only in those portraits that bear her name. For example, in his landmark painting The Last Day of Pompeii, Julia is depicted three times - frightened, clutching her two daughters (Paccini’s adopted girls), thrown to the ground, with luxurious forms, and with a clay jug next to the artist himself, saving cultural objects from the scorching lava.

"Portrait of Countess Samoilova" is one of the artist’s iconic works, which in its time caused a sensation in Italy, where it was painted. In the painting we see a brilliant society lady, victoriously beautiful, proud, dressed in a luxurious masquerade costume. Running away from the feast, the beauty stopped for a moment, throwing off her mask. A scarlet curtain falls between Samoilova and the hall, from which she has just left, as if separating the heroine from high society, contrasting it.

The figures of the ball guests are blurred behind as if in cigarette smoke, seeming faint and unimportant. The artist admires the courageous, free woman who defied the patterns of society and lived as she herself wanted. Julia’s masquerade dress - bright glare, the intensity of colors color portrait is close to the "Last Day of Pompeii". The abundance of red in all its shades, from dark crimson and bloody scarlet to tender pink, is a characteristic feature of the painting. The second leading color is white; bluish in the smooth satin of the dress and warm, golden in the depiction of the softness of ermine fur. Samoilova’s pupil, Amalia Paccini, nestles gently against her adoptive mother; she is pensive and a little sad. It seems that what happened at the ball did not please and even slightly frightened the girl.