Bruni F.А., (1799-1875), painter

Categories / Art/Fine Arts/Personalia
BRUNI Fedor (Fidelis) Antonovich (1799-1875, St. Petersburg), painter. Studied under A. I. Ivanov, A. E. Egorov, and V. K. Shebuev at the Academy of Arts in 1809-18. A member, professor, and rector of the Academy of Arts from 1834, 1836, and 1855 to 1871, respectively. He founded and managed the mosaic department from 1866. He worked in Italy from 1818 to 1836 and from 1838 to1841. He was the curator of the Hermitage’s picture gallery in 1849-61. A master of historical and religious painting, he was at the head of Russian academicism from the late 1840s. The academic canon combined with romantic interpretation is a key feature of his most prominent pictures, such as Death of Camilla, Horatio’s Sister; Bacchante Giving Drink to Amor; and the monumental 5.65 by 8.52-metre Brazen Serpent; painted in 1824, 1828, and 1834-41, respectively, and exhibited in the State Russian Museum. He created 25 canvases for St. Isaac’s Cathedral in 1841-45; these are exhibited in the State Russian Museum. He also painted a pencil portrait of Alexander Pushkin in a coffin, which was reproduced by lithography in 1837, and drawings for the Studies of Events in Russian History, the album published by the Society for the Encouragement of the Arts in 1839. He lived at 38 First Line of Vasilievsky Island. He was buried at Necropolis of Artists.

Reference: Савинов А. Н. Федор Антонович Бруни, 1799-1875. М.; Л., 1949; Верещагина А. Г. Федор Антонович Бруни. Л., 1985.

O. L. Leikind, D. Y. Severyukhin. Bruni Fedor (Fidelis) Antonovich
1st Line of Vasilievsky Island/Saint Petersburg, city, house 38
Савинов А. Н. Федор Антонович Бруни, 1799-1875. М.; Л., 1949
Верещагина А. Г. Федор Антонович Бруни. Л., 1985 Academy of Arts
Academy of Arts
Hermitage
Hermitage
Russian Museum, State
St. Isaac's Cathedral
Necropolis of Artists
Society for the Encouragement of the Arts