01 Work, The art of War, József Molnár's The Destruction of Pompeii, with Footnotes

József Molnár, Zsámbok, 1821 – Budapest, 1899

The Destruction of Pompeii, c. 1876

Oil, canvas

279 × 409 cm

Hungarian National Gallery

Of the many eruptions of Mount Vesuvius, a major stratovolcano in southern Italy, the best-known for its eruption in 79 AD, which was one of the deadliest.

In autumn of 79 AD, Mount Vesuvius violently spewed forth a cloud of super-heated tephra and gases to a height of 33 km (21 mi), ejecting molten rock, pulverized pumice and hot ash at 1.5 million tons per second, ultimately releasing 100,000 times the thermal energy of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The event gives its name to the Vesuvian type of volcanic eruption, characterised by columns of hot gases and ash reaching the stratosphere, although the event also included pyroclastic flows associated with Pelean eruptions. 

The event destroyed several Roman towns and settlements in the area. Pompeii and Herculaneum, obliterated and buried underneath massive pyroclastic surges and ashfall deposits, are the most famous examples. Archaeological excavations have revealed much of the towns and the lives of the inhabitants leading to the area becoming the Vesuvius National Park and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. More on The Destruction of Pompeii

József Molnár (21 March 1821 - 6 March 1899) was a Hungarian painter. Molnár was born in Zsámbék and studied in Venice, Rome and Munich. After his studies, he settled down in Stuttgart, where he earned money by painting portraits. He returned to Hungary in 1853 and started painting landscapes and historic paintings in Pest. More on József Molnár

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01 Work, The art of War, Karl Bryullov's The Last Day of Pompeii, with Footnotes

Karl Bryullov  (1799–1852)

The Last Day of Pompeii, c. (1830 - 1833)

Oil on canvas

height: 456.5 cm (14.9 ft); width: 651 cm (21.3 ft)

Russian Museum

The destruction of Pompeii, Italy, is one of the most well-preserved catastrophes in human history. But scientists still disagree on how exactly thousands of Roman people died during those two fateful days in 79 C.E. For decades, many experts thought they asphyxiated amid the massive clouds of ash belched from the volcanic eruption of Mount Vesuvius. More recently, researchers have put forth a different idea: The victims perished instantaneously, when burning hot gas vaporized their body fluids. More on The destruction of Pompeii

Briullov visited Pompeii in 1828 and made sketches depicting the AD 79 Vesuvius eruption. The painting received rapturous reviews at its exhibition in Rome and brought Briullov more acclaim than any other work during his lifetime. The first Russian artwork to cause such an interest abroad, it inspired an anthologic poem by Alexander Pushkin, and the novel The Last Days of Pompeii by Edward Bulwer-Lytton. It depicts a classical topic but exhibits characteristics of Romanticism as manifested in Russian art, including drama, realism tempered with idealism, interest in nature, and a fondness for historical subjects. A self portrait is in the upper left corner of the painting, under the steeple, but not easy to identify. More on this painting

Karl Pavlovich Bryullov (born Dec. 12 [Dec. 23, 1799, St. Petersburg, Russia—died June 11, 1852, Marsciano, near Rome, Papal States [Italy]) Russian painter who combined technical proficiency and classical academic training with a Romantic spontaneity to produce some of the liveliest examples of Russian art of the period.

Bryullov was descended from French Huguenots, and his father was a sculptor. (The family name was Russified in 1821.) Bryullov was educated at the St. Petersburg Academy of Fine Arts (1809–21). He studied in Italy from 1823, painting his best-known work, the monumental “Last Day of Pompeii” (1830–33), while there; it brought him an international reputation. Though he painted other large canvases with historical subjects, none was as successful as “Pompeii.” Much of his continuing reputation rests on his more intimate portraits and his watercolours and travel sketches. More on Karl Pavlovich Bryullov

Please visit my other blogs: Art Collector, Mythology, Marine Art, Portrait of a Lady, The Orientalist, Art of the Nude and The Canals of Venice, Middle East Artists, 365 Saints, 365 Days, and Biblical Icons, also visit my Boards on Pinterest

Images are copyright of their respective owners, assignees or others. Some Images may be subject to copyright

I don't own any of these images - credit is always given when due unless it is unknown to me. if I post your images without your permission, please tell me.

I do not sell art, art prints, framed posters or reproductions. Ads are shown only to compensate the hosting expenses.

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Thank you for visiting my blog and also for liking its posts and pages.

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