2 Roubles K.P.Bryullov

Part of Russia's ongoing "Outstanding Personalities of Russia" commemorative series, this piece honors Karl Pavlovich Bryullov, the St. Petersburg Academy painter whose 1833 canvas The Last Day of Pompeii caused a sensation across Europe and prompted Alexander Pushkin to compose verse in its honor. The painting won a gold medal at the Paris Salon and was acquired by Nicholas I, cementing Bryullov's position as the preeminent Russian academic artist of his generation.

Bryullov died in Manziana, Italy in 1852, never having fully recovered his health after leaving Russia in 1849 under a cloud of political suspicion.