Page:Benois - The Russian School of Painting (1916).djvu/95

 out, producing a striking effect, Bryullov exhibited such consummate workmanship, both in drawing and in painting, as it would perhaps be hard to find in the school of David or even in the works of the Bolognese masters. How true an artist dwelled in this painter is attested also by his numerous sketches for "The Last Day of Pompeii," all of them far more "Romantic" than the masterpiece itself.

It is as to a triumph that Bryullov came back to Russia, but, naturally, the artist who in his best, most ardent years had not freed himself from a compromise between the antiquated scholastic precepts and his own propensities, was not able now to create something more vital and beautiful. What awaited him at home was least favourable for the development of the artist: he found in Russia a society, at heart utterly indifferent to art; then along came honours, official orders, and an intoxicating cult formed by his pupils and other artists. Despite his many failings, Bryullov at once occupied the foremost place in the artistic world, and this kingly role put him in a false position, raised him above life, and cut off his connections with it. Bryullov made an attempt to create something even more magnificent than "The Last Day of Pompeii," but his "Siege of Pskov," the first manifestation of the ill-fated nationalistic and official current in Russian art, remained an