The Mikhailovsky Palace

The Greek Revival style became one of the most popular genres in the academic painting of the second part of the 19^th century. In their monumental canvases the artists recreate the world of antiquity in the spectacular views. In Konstantin Flavitsky’s (1830–1866)Cristian Martyrs in Colosseum (1862) on the subject from the Rome history during christian persecutions influence of Karl Brullov who was an idol of academic artistic young people of the mid 19^th century is obvious.

Henryk Siemiradzki (1843–1902) is famous in the history of Russian and European art as a singer of antiquity. His outstanding painterly mastery and profound knowledge of ancient archaeology won him many followers. The subject of his canvas Phrine at the Festival of Poseidon at the Eleusinia (1889)

is taken from ancient Greek history. Famed for her beauty, the hetaera Phrine was the favourite model of Praxiteles. Here she imitates Aphrodite, the goddess of beauty and love, at one of the Eleusinia festivals. To the delight of onlookers, Phrine strips off her clothes, descends the steps and plunges into the water. The scene is constructed in the manner of a theatrical action played out against a magnificent background of southern nature flooded with sunlight.

Vasily Smirnov (1858–1890) realised his creative intentions also in the antique genre, having created Nero’s Death (1888).