What is the message of The Raft of Medusa?
The Raft of the Medusa depicts a dramatic moment and all emotions human beings can feel in such a situation: fear, pain, hope, madness. To do this painting Géricault studied for a long time the effects of the refraction of light on human body, and for this reason he drew a lot of preparatory sketches.
What is the significance of the figure of the black man at the apex of the raft?
The black figure on top of the barrels signaling to the ship forms the apex of this pyramid, while the diagonal from the bottom left to the ship on the top right creates a dynamic movement through the composition, as the figures push back toward this boat.
What really happened to the French frigate Medusa?
When supplies ran low, several injured men were thrown into the sea, and some of the survivors resorted to cannibalism. After 13 days at sea, the raft was discovered with only 15 men still alive….French frigate Méduse (1810)
| History | |
|---|---|
| France | |
| Name | Méduse |
| Namesake | Medusa |
| Builder | Crucy shipyard, Paimboeuf |
Why is The Raft of the Medusa considered a romantic work?
The Raft of the Medusa is generally regarded as an icon of Romanticism. It depicts an event in which the human and political aspects greatly interested Géricault: the wreck of the French Royal Navy frigate Méduse off the coast of Senegal in 1816, with over 150 soldiers on board.
Why was the Raft of Medusa controversial?
Géricault’s masterpiece, The Raft of the Medusa, was also his most controversial painting. It drew fire from French critics over the political implications and ambiguity of whether the men on the raft were to be rescued or not. Critics thought it too gruesome, too realistic.
What happened to the French ship Medusa featured in Géricault’s Raft of the Medusa?
Individual suffering rather than collective drama is vividly portrayed in The Raft of the Medusa. The large painting (13.75 × 23.5 feet [4.91 × 7.16 metres]) depicts the aftermath of the 1816 wreck of the French Royal Navy frigate the Medusa, which ran aground off the coast of Senegal.
Who was the black man on the Raft of the Medusa?
With him on the raft was a 23-year-old officer, Jean Baptiste Henri Savigny, a surgeon. Ten months after that fateful day the two published “Medusa: a Narrative of a Voyage to Senegal,” a book which roiled French society to its core, resulting in Gericault’s masterpiece.
What happened to the survivors of the Medusa?
Because of a shortage of lifeboats, some 150 survivors embarked on a raft and were decimated by starvation during a 13-day ordeal, which descended into murder and cannibalism. Only a handful remained when they were rescued at sea.
What period is The Raft of the Medusa?
RomanticismThe Raft of the Medusa / Period
An undeniable masterpiece of the 19th century, The Raft of the Medusa by Géricault is a true manifesto of Romanticism. Made between 1818 and 1819, this immense painting relives an important moment in French history: the sinking of a frigate off the coast of Mauritania.
Why is The Raft of the Medusa romantic?
Who painted the wreck of the Medusa?
Théodore GéricaultThe Raft of the Medusa / Artist