Portrait of Georg Kleberg

Portraits play a particularly important role in the artist's work. This portrait was made while Karl Bryullov lived in Rome and painted his famous composition "The Last Day of Pompeii". In the work of art, the author has depicted the model according to the 19th century traditions of portrait painting – dressed in dark cloths against a relatively dark background, with even facial lighting and with a forward-looking glance. Georg Andreas Kleberg (1779–1862), depicted in the portrait, was the youngest son of the alderman of the Riga Small Guild, a merchant, patron and member of the Brotherhood of Blackheads. In his will, Kleberg bequeathed funds to the Vērmane Garden, to the medical care of the citizens and to the poor.