Portrait of Marietti family

Exhibitions: Exhibition of Fine Arts Objects in the Royal Palace of Brera, Milan 1834

Bibliography: A. Romano, Vivo, vegeto e solvibile? Il ritratto della famiglia Marietti di Karl Brjullov, forthcoming in the journal Russica Romana, XXXII, 2025; I. F[umagalli], Exhibition of Fine Arts at the Royal Palace of Brera, “Biblioteca Italiana”, LXXV, 1834, pp. 320-321; D. Sacchi, Paintings by Cavaliere Carlo Bruloff, “Il Barbiere di Siviglia”, 20 September 1834, p. 302; [A. Cazzaniga], Brera 1834. Pittura, Corriere delle dame, 20 September 1834, p. 412; A. Lambertini, Esposizione delle Belle Arti in Milano nel 1834. Bruloff, ‘Gazzetta privilegiata di Milano’, 20 September 1834, p. 1039; [G. J. Pezzi?], Exhibition in Brera. Painting, ‘Glissons, n’appuyons pas’, 22 September 1834, p. 141; [F.] A[mbrosoli], Exhibition of Fine Arts in the Brera Galleries. (Article VII), “L’Eco. Journal of Science, Literature, Arts, Fashion and Theatre”, 26 September 1834, p. 462; G. Mosconi, Pubblica esposizione di Belle Arti in Milano nell’anno 1834, “Ricoglitore italiano e straniero”, 1834, no. 10, pp. 352-353; [G. Rovani], Carlo Bruloff, “L’Italia musicale”, 7 July 1852, p. 213; [V. V. Stasov], Poslednie dni K. P. Brjulova i ostavšiesja v Rime poslednie ego proizvedenija, “Otečestvennye zapiski”, LXXXIV, 1852, otd. VIII, pp. 65-66; V. V. Stasov, O značenii Brjulova i Ivanova v russkom iskusstve. VI–IX i priloženija, Russkij vestnik, XXXV, 1861, p. 404; Ė. N. Acarkina, Karl Pavlovič Brjullov. Žizn’ i tvorčestvo, Moscow 1963; S. Angeli, Banchieri e commercianti di sete a Milano nel periodo della Restaurazione, “Studi Storici”, XXI, 1980, no. 2, pp. 325-338; E. Lissoni, Un collezionista risorgimentale. Vitaliano Crivelli e la sua villa di Trezzo sull’Adda, in: L’Edipo ritrovato. A masterpiece by Giuseppe Bossi in the Villa Comunale in Trezzo sull’Adda, Trezzo sull’Adda 2004, pp. 7-23; A. Marietti, Various memories of the living and the dead, vol. V, People, Bolzano Novarese 2018

Karl Brjullòv’s first stay in Italy lasted from 1823 to 1835, during which time the artist was very productive. In the field of portraiture, many of his works depict Italian figures, including the 1834 painting known as Ritratto della famiglia Marietti (Portrait of the Marietti Family).

The work was exhibited in Brera and reviewed in a particularly flattering manner by Ignazio Fumagalli, painter and secretary of the Academy of Fine Arts in Milan: ‘[canvas] vast, in which he brought together seven individuals from the same family in the shade of a pleasant slope, behind them a wood and at their feet a transparent stream, it is impossible to decide which of these two qualities, the concept or the execution, is preferable; a small naked boy sitting in the water, emerging halfway out, seems to be inviting a sister to join him, while another, older sister has already immersed one foot in the stream and is in the act of advancing the other and shortening her shirt to her knees; a child sitting on his mother’s thighs seems anxious to hurry her along as she undresses him; the father, lying behind her and reclining on a green carpet, turns with satisfaction towards his brother, who has arrived dressed as a hunter with a harquebus and a hare. Here the colours are all clear and transparent, the figures are rendered with masterful use of half-tones and have a beautiful relief: each is in its place with its respective colour varied according to age. In terms of likeness and accessories, very few painters can compete with Cav. Brulloff, and we therefore conclude that his genius creates and imitates whatever he desires, and always well: if his works are sometimes not without some flaws, this must be attributed to a condition to which even the greatest men cannot escape. (Exhibition of Fine Arts in the I. R. Palazzo di Brera, “Biblioteca Italiana”, LXXV, 1834, pp. 320-321).

The painting attracted the comments of several other art critics and journalists. Defendente Sacchi wrote: ‘If you want to see how great Bruloff’s genius is, look at his other large painting, where he painted the portrait of an entire family. For some years now, similar commissions have featured groups of figures all seated and all looking bored by the painter: Bruloff transports his family to a landscape near a lake, where the bride and groom, seated among the plants and greenery, rejoice in the joy of their children: some of them running and frolicking on the grass, others happily venturing to the edge of the lake; all in new, animated, true movements: in the distance, a man returns from hunting, and on one side a little girl rests. In this way, Bruloff made a composition painting out of a family portrait, with enchanting realism. Artists should imitate him in this respect, for genius opens up a fruitful path of beautiful inventions for them; it is the way to represent the historical scenes of our century, scenes not of styles and poisons, like the ancient ones and those of the Middle Ages, but of dear domestic tranquillity. The method used to paint this picture is the usual one; however, the flesh […] is more realistic, and there is a seated man’s head looking out, rendered with such force of colour that it would have been better done by a 16th-century Venetian. This head and that of the lady are the two most beautiful parts of Bruloff’s exhibition: the other heads and the rest of the figures are carved with decisive brushstrokes, without much return: thus, in the accessories, he paints them at first, he does not care for them with diligence; he achieves them with marked strokes, sometimes one would say only sketched; however, from a distance they always give a good effect: he is a quick painter, who seduces, who deceives: but perhaps his excessive rapidity sometimes betrays him […]. However, this does not mean that he is intolerant of finitude and he will be able to achieve it if he wants to’ (D. Sacchi, Dipinti del Cavaliere Carlo Bruloff, “Il Barbiere di Siviglia”, 20 September 1834, p. 302).

Antonio Cazzaniga commented briefly: ‘Another large painting, in which a Milanese family is painted in very lifelike portraits, has shown that Bruloff can do it when he wants to. Many do not like the background of the canvas, which (if the rumour is true) the artist himself is already thinking of changing‘ (Brera 1834. Pittura, ’Corriere delle dame”, 20 September 1834, p. 412). Angiolo Lambertini was also rather concise, although not sparing in his praise: “[painting] depicting a dear family, one of the best known among us, portrayed in every detail with such truth and such fine taste, and for the happy composition and the wooded background, and for the crystal clear water that flows through it, as to arouse envy and make one wish to be the author” (Exhibition of Fine Arts in Milan in 1834. Bruloff, “Gazzetta privilegiata di Milano”, 20 September 1834, p. 1039).

The following detailed assessment is almost certainly the work of Gian Jacopo Pezzi: ‘[…] a large painting depicting a family in the countryside, arranged with all the splendour of art and all the truth of nature. The husband, wife and their children make up the scene. The man is reclining in a careless attitude; the woman is seated, holding a nursing child on her lap, and is in the act of putting a light shirt on him; a little boy, who appears to be about two years old, can be seen in the foreground of the canvas, half-immersed in a pond, or rather, in a stretch of water that rises a few lines above the ground; a tender little girl, who has only her shirt left of her clothes, puts her bare foot into the same water and appears in a movement that indicates her disgust at immersing herself. Another little boy on the opposite side is trying with childish clumsiness to put a boot on his tender foot. The scene is entirely familiar, entirely true, entirely soulful. The background of the painting is a landscape, and the back of the canvas reveals another individual, dressed as a hunter, presenting his prey. The various facial features are very similar, the movements are true and well understood; the perspective is well thought out, the expression is eloquent; the accessories in the painting are executed with verve and taste. Some would have liked the painter to have used less ruddy colour on the cheeks of those little boys; but, as far as we are concerned, the only criticism we can make is that of excessive vagueness in the overall colouring of the painting and a light that is perhaps too dazzling. (Exhibition in Brera. Painting, “Glissons, n’appuyons pas”, 22 September 1834, p. 141).

Let us turn to Francesco Ambrosoli: ‘In the family painting, Cav. Brulloff created a beautiful background of the countryside, where he achieved a wonderful effect with large, easy strokes. He then distributed everything so well that, despite the breadth of the scene and the many different figures and their various occupations, they form a whole full of beautiful harmony, and the viewer’s attention is not distracted in the slightest. Moving on to the individual parts, there is a male head in this painting that is so lifelike that you almost expect to hear him speak; there is a girl pulling a shoe off her little foot with incredible naturalness; there is certainly an uncommon skill in representing the naked flesh in the water, and throughout there is a singular frankness of brushwork. Only in some parts is there a hint of what is described as “too heavy” colouring’ (Exhibition of Fine Arts in the Brera Galleries. (Article VII), “L’Eco. Journal of Science, Literature, Arts, Fashion and Theatre”, 26 September 1834, p. 462).

Finally, here is Giacomo Mosconi’s detailed opinion: ‘[…] family portrait. Under the trunk of a large tree, a man is lying on the right of the painting; in the middle, a woman is sitting with a chubby child on her lap. In front, a little girl in a shirt, somewhat shy, puts her foot in a basin of water where another girl younger than her has already lowered herself, and a third is untying her socks to follow her sisters. On the left of the painting, a countryside can be seen in the distance, and near this group comes a hunter with a hare. The composition is simple and seemed very natural to us in all its parts. The movements of all these little girls are, in our opinion, very graceful. The pleasure of bathing gives them an innocent joy that is painted on their features, which is shared by the little cherub on his mother’s knees, who looks lovingly at her daughters with a very pleased expression. The father is well depicted in a calm and resting posture, as is the hunter, who also appears very lively. These are all portraits, and are generally considered to be very lifelike. What can be said about the art is that the brush of the distinguished painter in this painting, as in the other canvases, is free and confident. Everything seems well represented, the movements very spontaneous, and it can be asserted that a canvas with such a simple concept could not have had a better effect. Even the landscape is, in our opinion, rendered with great truth. Certainly, it seems that if Bruloff had handled the flesh of the girls and their mother a little more delicately, he would have given even greater beauty to his painting. But even if it did not seem entirely finished, we certainly cannot say that it lacks effect, and it is clearly the work of an artist of rare talent’ (Pubblica esposizione di Belle Arti in Milano nell’anno 1834, “Ricoglitore italiano e straniero”, 1834, no. 10, pp. 352-353). In Russia, the work was first recorded in 1861 as “[oil portrait] of the family of Mrs Marietti (7 figures, in Milan)”.