User:Gleb95/The Brazen Serpent (Bruni)

The Brazen Serpent («Медный змий») is a monumental oil on canvas painting in the Russian Museum in Saint Petersburg, by the Italian-born Russian Academic painter Fidelio Bruni. Completed in 1841, the canvas is regarded as the largest in Russian history painting practice, as well as the largest work on display in the Russian Museum; the canvas measures 565 × 852 cm at approximately 48 square metres, and weighs about 70 kg.

As the basis for the painting, Bruni used a story featured in the biblical Book of Numbers, according to which the Israelites, led from Egypt by Moses, complained against the latter and Yahweh in frustration after longtime travel through the desert wilderness. In response, God sent "fiery serpents" among the Israelites, and told Moses to erect a serpent of bronze which was used to heal those who looked upon it.

Bruni began work on The Brazen Serpent in 1824; in 1827, he first reported on a new large painting to the Society for the Encouragement of the Arts. From 1833 to 1836, Bruni worked in Italy, from where he was called in Saint Petersburg to teach at the Imperial Academy of Arts. In 1838, he returned to Rome, where the painting was completed and first exhibited in Spring 1841, to a critical success. In Summer 1841, the canvas was moved to Saint Petersburg; it has been exhibited in the Winter Palace and later in the Academy of Arts. From the beginning, The Brazen Serpent was compared to another monumental piece completed a decade before — Karl Bryullov's The Last Day of Pompeii; both hailed as "the two colossi of Russian painting" by Alexandre Benois, these were exhibited in the same room in the Hermitage Museum and, later, in the Mikhailovsky Palace as part of the Russian Museum exhibition.

Execution history
Bruni had been working over The Brazen Serpent for about fifteen years, and had done the earliest sketch of the subject in 1824. Reporting to the Society for the Encouragement of the Arts in February 1827, the artist informed that he begun work on a new large painting based off an Old Testament scene; he pointed out that one of several sketches, depicting "the brazen serpent erected in the desert," was chosen to use in the upcoming picture. A Society committee generally approved the concept, but also has warned Bruni about the difficulties associated with the creation of a large multi-figure composition, to which Bruni replied that "the figures in the said picture will be life-size... and, therefore, the whole picture will be quite large, but as it has already begun, I would not like to leave it."

Bruni began work on the final variant of The Brazen Serpent in Italy in 1833–1834. In 1833, Bruni had a summarizing sketch of the work; in early 1834, he reported that "a painting [titled] Moses is soon to be underpainted, [...] and everybody – especially Germans – are afraid of its size," which the artist didn't worry for, as he was hoping for further funding.

Bruni still worked on The Brazen Serpent in 1835, when Tsar Nicholas I of Russia ordered him and fellow painter Karl Bryullov to return in Saint Petersburg, for professorship at the Academy of Arts. Through request from Russian envoy in Rome, Bruni managed to postpone his departure from Italy until early 1836; the painting remained unfinished, though.

In Summer 1836, Bruni moved to Saint Petersburg and was appointed a professor in the Academy of Arts; on an Academy exhibition in the same year's Autumn, the artist put his sketches for The Brazen Serpent on display, gaining the attention from the press. Bruni continued working at the Academy through 1837 and 1838, but was willing to return in Italy and complete the unfinished work; eventually, he was allowed to do so. In September 1838, Bruni and his family moved to Rome.

Once returning, Bruni resumed working on the painting. In a 1839 letter to Minister of the Imperial Court Pyotr Volkonsky, Bruni complained about the difficult financial situation as he was left without salary, as well as because of growing family. Nevertheless, the Tsar rejected the petition and ordered to stop paying salary until Bruni's return to Russia. The artist sent another petition, notifying that he ceaselessly works over the painting he referred to as Moses, but without salary, he "would have to think not about [his] big picture — the sole purpose of [his] trip in Italy, but about daily means to support [his] family, to which [he] will have to make all [his] work." After that, the Tsar changed his decision and ordered to resume the payment of salaries on a condition that Bruni would finish and bring the work to Russia the next year. However, the painting was incomplete by the fall of 1840, and Bruni again had to ask for a postponement, this time until the next Spring. Finally, on April 15, 1841, Bruni informed that "a large painting depicting Moses, the execution of which necessitated [his] trip to Rome, is ultimately complete."

Exhibition history
Following its completion, The Brazen Serpent was showcased in Rome. Alexander A. Ivanov, Bruni's younger fellow who worked in Rome on his own masterpiece, The Appearance of Christ Before the People, wrote that, whereas the painting was praised by many viewers, it was also panned by German artists of the Nazarene movement. At the same time, Bruni was excited of "overall success [his] work had."

In Summer 1841, the painting was sent to Russia; in September, it was exhibited in the Winter Palace, before moving in the Academy of Arts' building, where it was showcased publicly in Autumn 1842. Highly satisfied with the picture, the Tsar bought it for 30.000 assignation rubles, and conferred upon Bruni the Order of Saint Vladimir (fourth class); some time later, The Brazen Serpent entered the Hermitage Museum, and was held in the reformed gallery's new building, in a room that housed works by Russian artists, with The Last Day of Pompeii—another monumental piece completed a decade before by Bruni's contemporary Karl Bryullov—being the most prominent.

In 1897, The Brazen Serpent was transferred into the newly-established Russian Museum, and was installed in the Mikhailovsky Palace the next year, where it has been exhibited to this day; in the same room, Death of Camilla, an early Bruni painting, was exhibited. In his memoirs, artist and writer Alexandre Benois recalled that, other prominent works, exhibited in the same room, included The Last Day of Pompeii and Siege of Pskov by Bryullov, Christ’s Appearance to Mary Magdalene after the Resurrection by Alexander A. Ivanov, Christian Martyrs in the Colosseum by Konstantin Flavitsky, The Last Supper by Nikolai Ge.