LITERARY SOURCES OF PUSHKIN’S SKETCH «VESUVIUS OPENED ITS MOUTH...»

The article outlines the literary sources that A. S. Pushkin might have used in his work on the poem «Vesuvius Opened its Mouth.». Biblioteka dlja Chtenija magazine published an article The Last Day of Pompeii, a Painting by Karl Bryullov, containing the descriptions of the canvas translated from Italian. The Society for the Encouragement of Artists published translations of the foreign reviews of the painting as a separate book. It is likely that Pushkin began working on the poem before the canvas arrived to St. Petersburg. The poet’s drawing in the draft manuscript could have been made from the image of the painting reproduced in Biblioteka dlja Chtenija. In Pushkin’s sketch, there are reminiscences from Count Khvostov’s epistle to Bryullov, that contained a description of the canvas.

A. S. Pushkin, «Vesuvius Opened its Mouth.», K. P. Bryullov, The Last Day of Pompeii, literary sources, Biblioteka dlja Chtenija, D. I. Khvostov.