June 10: The birthday of Fyodor Bruni, the artist who painted The Copper Serpent
Fyodor Bruni was born on June 10, 1799, in Milan. He became one of the greatest painters of the Nicholas II era and the creator of "The Bronze Serpent," one of the largest canvases in Russian art, which is now housed in the Russian Museum.
From Milan to Russia
The artist's real name was Fidelio. His father was a Swiss art restorer and a participant in Suvorov's campaign against Napoleon. After being wounded, he left the service and moved to Russia when his son was not yet ten years old.
The family lived near the Tsarskoye Selo lyceums, and Karamzin and Pushkin visited their home. Later, in 1837, it was Fyodor Bruni who executed the drawing "Pushkin in a Coffin"—a lithograph of which would become world-famous.
Academy, Italy, first recognition
At 19, Bruni graduated from the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts. At 22, he painted his first major painting, "The Death of Camilla, Sister of Horace." After an exhibition at the Capitol in Rome, he became famous: the painting would not be shown in St. Petersburg until 13 years later, and for it, Bruni received the title of academician.
For a long time, the artist earned almost nothing from his own paintings, mostly copying Raphael's frescoes. In 1828, Nicholas I personally ordered "the artist Bruni to be left abroad for five years to perfect his painting skills" with a salary of 300 chervonets per year from the State Treasury.
Among his "Roman" paintings from this period are "The Annunciation" and "The Agony in the Garden," depicting Christ awaiting his Passion. Some of these paintings encountered censorship: in 1830, his "Bacchante" was banned from being shown to the Roman public "out of respect for Lent."
The Copper Serpent – a colossus of Russian painting
Bruni worked on his major painting for 15 years. "The Brazen Serpent" was completed when the artist turned 40. The painting caused a sensation in Rome, and in St. Petersburg, it was exhibited in the Winter Palace. Nicholas I purchased the canvas for the Hermitage for 70 rubles—a sum comparable to the cost of a large estate.
Today, "The Bronze Serpent" is on display at the Russian Museum, alongside Karl Bryullov's "The Last Day of Pompeii." They are called "colossi of Russian painting."
I tried to make it so that at first glance it would inspire the pathetic pathos of this terrible scene.
The painting depicts an Old Testament story: the Jewish people, having lost their faith, were punished by a rain of poisonous snakes. After repenting, Moses, by the Lord's command, displayed a bronze serpent before the crowd—and anyone bitten by looking at it was healed.
The Copper Serpent is one of the largest paintings in Russian historical art and the largest in the collection of the Russian Museum: 5,5 by 8,5 meters, weighing about 70 kg.
Everyone is horrified by its sheer size, especially the Germans, but I... find it funny. If only there was money, everything would work.
Rector of the Academy, Curator of the Hermitage
At 50, Bruni was appointed curator of the Hermitage's picture gallery and was responsible for expanding the collection. He taught at the Academy of Arts, where his students included artists Mikhail Botkin and Arseny Meshchersky. After 60, he became rector of the painting department and mosaic section of the Imperial Academy of Arts. By the age of 70, he had been granted hereditary nobility.
Bruni also created dozens of sketches for the design of St. Isaac's and Kazan Cathedrals in St. Petersburg and the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow.
Fyodor Bruni died in 1875 in St. Petersburg, at the age of 76.
