Alexander Ivanov - Appearance of Christ Before the People [1837-57]

Alexander Andreyevich Ivanov (July 28. 1806 – July 15, 1858) was a Russian painter who adhered to the waning tradition of Neoclassicism but found little sympathy with his contemporaries. A native of St. Petersburg, Ivanov studied together with Karl Briullov at the Imperial Academy of Arts under his father, Andrey A. Ivanov. He spent most of his life in Rome where he befriended Gogol and succumbed to the influence of the Nazarenes. He has been called the master of one work, for it took 20 years to complete his magnum opus, The Appearance of Christ befoe the People (1837-57), now in the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow.

[Oil on canvas, 540 x 750 cm]