"Orgy of the times of Tiberius on the island of Capri" - a painting of Polish and Russian artist Heinrich Semiradsky (1843-1902), written in 1881. It is part of the collection of the State Tretyakov Gallery (inv. 5264). The size of the picture is 101.5 × 216 cm [1] [2] .
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| Henryk Semiradsky | ||
| An orgy from the times of Tiberius on the island of Capri . 1881 | ||
| Oil on canvas . 101.5 × 216 cm | ||
| State Tretyakov Gallery , Moscow | ||
Content
Story and description
The name of the painting gives an idea of the time and place of the action depicted on the canvas: Tiberius was a Roman emperor from the year 14 AD until his death, which followed in 37, and on the island of Capri was one of his villas, in which he indulged in corruption and ordered to kill rebellious [3] .
In the biography of Tiberius, Guy Suetonius Tranquill wrote [4] :
| ... He headed to Capri, the island most attractive to him in that it was possible to land there in only one small place, and on the other sides he was surrounded by the steepness of the highest cliffs and the depths of the sea. <...> Capri is still showing the place of his massacre: from here convicts, after long and sophisticated tortures, were thrown into the sea before his eyes, and below the sailors picked up and crushed corpses with paddles and oars so that no one was left with life. |
The action takes place on the shore of the island. On the left are steep cliffs, on the right is the sea, on the horizon is a lighthouse glowing in the dark. On the left side of the picture are the dead bodies of two men thrown off a cliff. To their right is a cheerful dancing company consisting of young men (apparently from the retinue of Tiberius) and half-naked women. One of them, in the light of the torch, looks at the corpses in surprise, but those in front continue to have fun, not paying attention to the gloomy neighborhood. In the twilight, a little behind the crowd, surrounded by two women is a gray-haired old man, also taking part in general fun [5] .
History
The painting “Orgy from the times of Tiberius on the island of Capri” was painted by Heinrich Semiradsky in 1881 in Rome . She was exhibited at the 2nd exhibition of the Moscow Society of Art Lovers , which was held in 1881-1882 [1] .
After that, the painting was in the collection of Kozma Soldatyonkov (1818-1901) - a well-known entrepreneur and collector, owner of an art gallery. Paired with another painting by Semiradsky, “ Dance among the swords, ” she was hung out at his Moscow estate, located at ul. Myasnitskaya , d.37 [6] .
After the death of Soldatyonkov in 1901, according to his will, the entire collection was transferred to the Rumyantsev Museum . After the museum was disbanded in 1925, the painting “Orgy from the times of Tiberius on the island of Capri” was transferred to the Tretyakov Gallery [1] .
The sketch for the painting, 34 × 70 cm in size , which was in private collections, is known. December 1, 2015 he was held at the auction of the auction house Sotheby's [7] .
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 3 State Tretyakov Gallery - collection catalog / Y. V. Brook , L. I. Iovleva . - Moscow: Red Square, 2006. - T. 4: Painting of the second half of the XIX century, book 2, N — I. - S. 306-308. - 560 s. - ISBN 5-900743-22-5 .
- ↑ Semiradsky Henry Ippolitovich - Orgy of the times of Tiberius on the island of Capri (HTML) (unavailable link) . State Tretyakov Gallery , www.tretyakovgallery.ru. Date of treatment October 10, 2014. Archived December 15, 2014.
- ↑ G. Semiradsky. - Moscow: De Agostini, 2011.- T. 59. - S. 10-11. - 32 p. - (50 artists - masterpieces of Russian painting).
- ↑ Guy Suetonius Tranquill (translated by M. L. Gasparov). The Life of the Twelve Caesars (Book Three: Tiberius) (HTML). Antique literature - ancientrome.ru. Date of treatment October 11, 2014.
- ↑ D.N. Lebedev. Henry Semiradsky. - Moscow: Art Rodnik , 2006. - P. 53–55. - 96 p. - ISBN 5-9561-0175-X.
- ↑ Natalia Surinova. The history and fate of the art gallery of K. T. Soldatenkov (HTML). ninexpert.ru. Date of treatment October 11, 2014.
- ↑ Henryk Siemiradzki. Orgy on Capri in the time of Tiberius (HTML). Sotheby's - www.sothebys.com. Date of treatment January 27, 2018.
Links
- Semiradsky Heinrich Ippolitovich - Orgy of the times of Tiberius on the island of Capri, 1881 (HTML). www.art-catalog.ru. Date of treatment October 10, 2014.