'Destruction of Pompeii', 1833, (1939). 'The Last Day of Pompeii', depiction of people fleeing the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in Italy in 79 AD. 'The picture is based upon the Younger Pliny's story of the destruction of Pompeii. On the left side of the picture the painter himself is portrayed; he holds on his head a box of brushes and paints. Karl Bryullov (1799-1852) lived and worked in Rome for some years and is regarded as a key figure in the transition from Russian neoclassicism to romanticism. Painting in the collection of The State Russian Museum, St Petersburg, Russia. From "The Russian State Museum". [State Art Publishers, Moscow and Leningrad, 1939]