The Raft of the Medusa by Théodore Géricault

The Raft of the Medusa by Théodore Géricault depicts the aftermath of the wreck of the French naval frigate Méduse, which ran aground off the coast of Mauritania in 1816.

About 150 of the crew were set adrift on a hurriedly constructed raft. All but 15 died in the 13 days before their rescue. The survivors had endured starvation and dehydration, and some survived using cannibalism.

The event became an international scandal, and the captain was accused of incompetence.

Although the painting retains many elements of the traditions of history painting, including its choice of subject matter and its dramatic presentation, it represents a break from the calm and order of the Neoclassical school.

This over-life-size painting was completed at the age of 27 and an icon of French Romanticism.

The Méduse event fascinated Géricault, who undertook extensive research and produced many preparatory sketches. He interviewed two of the survivors and constructed a detailed scale model of the raft.

Géricault visited hospitals and morgues where he could view, first-hand, the color and texture of the flesh of the dying and dead.

The painting proved highly controversial at its first appearance in the 1819 Paris Salon, attracting passionate praise and condemnation.

However, it established his international reputation and today is widely seen as seminal in the early history of the Romantic movement in French painting.

The painting’s influence can be seen in the works of Delacroix, Turner, Courbet, and Manet.

French Frigate Méduse

Méduse was a 40-gun frigate of the French Navy, launched in 1810. She took part in the Napoleonic Wars, and in 1816, following the Bourbon Restoration, Méduse was armed to ferry French officials to the port of Saint-Louis, in Senegal.

Through inept navigation by her captain, the Méduse struck the Bank of Arguin off the coast of present-day Mauritania and became a total loss.

Most of the 400 passengers on board evacuated, however, the Méduse was not carrying enough lifeboats to take all of the passengers.

About 150 men were forced to take refuge on an improvised raft towed by the frigate’s launches. A raft measuring 20 meters (66 ft) long and 7 meters (23 ft) wide was constructed with wood salvaged from the wreck.

The towing of the raft proved impractical, and the lifeboats soon abandoned the raft and its passengers to the open ocean. The lifeboats, with the captain and Governor aboard, sailed away to safety.

The situation aboard the raft rapidly turned disastrous. Among the provisions were casks of wine instead of water. Dozens of men were washed into the sea by a storm, while others rebelled and were killed by officers.

When supplies ran low, 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.

News of the tragedy stirred considerable public emotion, making Méduse one of the most infamous shipwrecks. Two survivors, a surgeon, and an officer wrote a widely read book about the incident.

The Raft of the Medusa

Title: The Raft of the Medusa

French: Le Radeau de La Méduse

Originally titled: Scène de Naufrage (Shipwreck Scene)

Artist: Théodore Géricault

Year: 1819

Medium: Oil on canvas

Dimensions: Height: 491 cm (16.1 ft); Width: 716 cm (23.4 ft)

Type: History Painting

Museum: Louvre, Paris

Théodore Géricault

Artist: Jean-Louis André Théodore Géricault

Birth: 1791 – Rouen, Normandy, France

Died: 1824 (aged 32) – Paris, France

Nationality: French

Movement: Romanticism

Notable Works:

The Raft of the Medusa

A Tour of the Louvre

Paintings

The Mona Lisa” by Leonardo da Vinci
“Ruggiero Freeing Angelica” by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres
“The Valpinçon Bather” by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres
“The Turkish Bath” by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres
“Grande Odalisque” by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres
“Perseus and Andromeda” by Joachim Wtewael
Self-portrait with Her Daughter, Julie by Louise Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun
“The Virgin and Child with St. Anne” by Leonardo da Vinci
“Louis XIV of France” by Hyacinthe Rigaud
“The Massacre at Chios” by Eugène Delacroix
“The Battle of San Romano” by Paolo Uccello
“Virgin of the Rocks” by Leonardo da Vinci
“The Death of Sardanapalus” by Eugène Delacroix
“Psyche Revived by Cupid’s Kiss” by Antonio Canova
“Liberty Leading the People” by Eugène Delacroix
“The Arcadian Shepherds” by Nicolas Poussin
“The Lacemaker” by Johannes Vermeer
“The Money Changer and His Wife” by Quentin Matsys
“The Fortune Teller” by Caravaggio
“Portrait of Baldassare Castiglione” by Raphael
“Charles I at the Hunt” by Anthony van Dyck
“An Old Man and his Grandson” by Domenico Ghirlandaio
“Vulcan Presenting Venus with Arms for Aeneas” by François Boucher
“La belle ferronnière” by Leonardo da Vinci
Self-Portrait by Élisabeth Sophie Chéron
The Four Seasons by Nicolas Poussin
“The Death of Marat” by Gioacchino Giuseppe Serangeli after Jacques-Louis David
“Oath of the Horatii” by Jacques-Louis David
“The Coronation of Napoleon” by Jacques-Louis David
Portrait of the Elector John Frederic the Magnanimous of Saxony by Lucas Cranach the Elder
Leonidas at Thermopylae by Jacques-Louis David