Jacobi, Valery Ivanovich (1834-1902)

VI Jacobi entered the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts in 1856 already a mature man. Behind him was all the Crimean campaign, he was a volunteer militia Simbirsk.

Becoming a disciple of Arts, he has already, in 1860, was awarded a small gold medal for his painting "Bright holiday beggar" - heartfelt story about the fate of a poor person.
A year later, the artist creates the most significant of his works - a diatribe on the orientation of the painting "Rest of the prisoners" (1861) . It Jacobi was the first Russian artists turned to the subject of the royal prison. With extraordinary conviction presented here are the various social types - from tramp to intellectual-politkatorzhanina, whose life was cut short in the way.

Given a trip abroad, Jacoby went to Europe, visited Germany, France, Italy and other countries, where, perfecting their art, spent eight years (1861-69). Result of the trip was the picture on historical subjects - "Terrorists and reasonable" and "Cardinal Guise show head Admiral Coligny, who was killed in the St. Bartholomew's Day in 1572," for which the artist was awarded the title of Academician.

Back in Russia, the artist took an active part in the organization TPHV. However, he stayed there only until 1872, when he was excluded from the number of its members who quit as peredvizhnichestva ideals. Jacobi took a conservative position and the Academy of Arts, where he received a professorship. He chose the topic mainly historical genre, creating a picture of the surface-an illustrative character, outwardly entertaining, but devoid of any ideological content ("Jesters at the Court of Empress Anna Ivanovna," 1872 "Ice House", 1878, etc.). His creativity in the 1880s. has been slowly fade away.