Karl Bryullov: The Painter who bridged Classicism and Romantic Fire

The text below is the excerpt of the book Karl Bryullov (ISBN: 9798899563690), written by Galina Leontyeva, published by Parkstone International.

On December 23, 1799, in a modest house on Vasilyevsky Island, the third son of the retired academician Pavel Brullo was born and baptized Karl. The Brullo family – later signing their name in Russian as Bryullov, when Karl and his brother Alexander travelled abroad – had long since made Russia their home. Originally Brulélleau, they had fled France after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes1, seeking refuge from persecution along with countless other Protestants.

Karl Bryullov’s great-grandfather, Georges, began working in 1773 as a modeller at the Imperial Porcelain Factory in St Petersburg. His grandfather, Ivan Brullo, was a sculptor, while Karl’s father gained recognition in the city as a master woodcarver, admired for his delicate use of gold and silver pigments on glass. For a time, he even held the title of professor at the Academy of Arts.

What, in Karl’s childhood, foreshadowed the formation of such a remarkable personality? Paradoxically, his frail health played an important role. Illness confined him to a quiet, sheltered life, one that encouraged contemplation and a reflective way of viewing the world.

Until the age of ten, Karl remained at home under the direct influence of his father, a striking and unusual figure. In the family’s sitting room, the father’s sword occupied a place of honour on the wall. Its blade, enamelled in blue and inscribed in gold, bore the Masonic motto: “Stand for Truth.” Though the sword itself was untouchable, the meaning of its words – truth and justice – was often explained to the children. Pavel Brullo was a Freemason, part of a movement that, at the time, played a progressive role in Russian public and spiritual life.

The family atmosphere was one of affection, discipline and tireless industry – qualities treated almost as a creed. The protection of younger siblings by their elders was taken for granted. Karl, who remembered with gratitude the care shown to him by his older brother Fiodor, would later adopt the same protective role with his own pupils, treating them almost as a father.

His father, though just, was quick-tempered. On one occasion, for an offence Karl could not even recall, he struck the boy with such force that Karl suffered partial deafness in one ear for the rest of his life. From Pavel, Karl inherited a fiery temperament – intolerant of contradiction and prone to sudden outbursts. He was known to shout at his students and once, in a fit of frustration with his own canvas Bathsheba, hurled a boot at it. Yet this volatility also gave him fierce independence: by allowing himself the full expression of his emotions, he claimed the right to be wholly himself. This uncompromising temperament became the foundation of his artistic character.

While still at home, Karl’s training was supervised by his father. Each morning his breakfast was withheld until he had completed his daily task: copying an engraving or drawing a set number of figures or animals. One day, after finishing his exercise, he took up his pencil again – not to copy, but to observe and record. On his paper appeared a closet, a table and a chair. For the first time he was drawing directly from life. In that moment, the boy sensed a new power – the ability to transform the world around him into a living image, to create a new reality within the two-dimensional space of a sheet of paper.

Another vivid memory from Bryullov’s childhood was a journey with his brother and sister across St Petersburg to visit their grandfather in Peski. Leaving the protective circle of his home, Karl encountered for the first time the exhilarating and daunting scale of the city. On Morskaya Street and Nevsky Prospekt they passed horses hauling massive granite blocks, timber and building materials. The city was a giant construction site, alive with energy and ambition. His generation grew up amid the rise of the capital’s greatest architectural monuments. In the early years of Alexander I’s reign, an air of optimism filled the city, lightening the spirit of its people. This atmosphere left a lasting impression on Bryullov and his contemporaries.

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