Italian Midday (1831 version)

Italian Midday (1831 version), held at the Tretyakov Gallery, is the later and more fully resolved of Bryullov's two treatments of this subject, painted four years after the 1827 version now at the Russian Museum. By 1831, Bryullov had spent eight years in Italy and was approaching the moment of his greatest achievement — The Last Day of Pompeii would be begun in 1830 and completed in 1833. The Italian Midday subject, revisited after four years, shows a painter who has absorbed more of the Italian tradition, particularly in the treatment of sunlit flesh and the integration of figure into outdoor atmosphere. The Tretyakov's version may show greater technical confidence or compositional maturity than its predecessor, reflecting Bryullov's rapid artistic development during the Italian years. The warm, Romantic sensuality of these Italian midday images had a significant influence on subsequent Russian painting, particularly in the way it legitimized the female figure as a subject of aesthetic pleasure rather than moral instruction.

The 1831 version likely shows greater integration of figure and environment than the 1827 version — the outdoor light more thoroughly enveloping the figure rather than merely falling upon it. The palette may show the influence of Venetian painting more strongly, with richer, more saturated tones in the shadows and more complex color temperature variation across the flesh.