In Italy, Bryullov, on a private order, painted the painting “Herminia with the Shepherds” (based on a plot from the poem “Jerusalem Liberated” by Torquato Tasso). It was written clearly in memory of the final academic work. In this picture, the motive of the “appearance” is played up, as well as the shepherd’s life with goats close.
Herminia’s silhouette looks ghostly (the picture remained unfinished), but this ghostly effect turns into an unexpected effect: a broad brushstroke behind the heroine’s shoulder likens her figure to a winged disembodied angel, and the theme of the picture is transformed from a medieval legend into the area of the gospel story about the gospel to the shepherds. Erminia is not waiting for news from the shepherds about the missing knight, but she herself takes the form of a messenger. This was the effect of Bryullov’s ability, varying similar compositional motives, as if by chance, with a slip of the tongue, to create new plot twists.
Year of painting: 1824.
Dimensions of the painting: 98 x 137.5 cm.
Material: canvas.
Writing technique: oil.
Genre: literary painting.
Style: romanticism.
Gallery: State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, Russia.