In the 1818 decade, the renowned romantic painter and lithographer Théodore Géricault produced an impressive work entitled “The Raft of the Medusa” in which he illustrates the shipwreck suffered by the ship known as La Fragata, belonging to the French navy Méduse.
The Medusa Raft
Throughout the history of universal art, there have been many works that have had a positive impact on the public. Countless plastic artists have put all their effort into giving away true pictorial jewels. In today's article we will be learning a little more about the famous work The Raft of the Medusa, a painting made by the French Théodore Géricault.
Géricault had the opportunity to make this emblematic painting around the year 1818 and since then it has become one of his most famous and admired creations in history. The Raft of the Medusa is today one of the most recognized and prestigious paintings. It is said that the Frenchman finished it before he was thirty years old and many describe it as an icon of Romanticism in France.
There are many characteristics that make the painting "The Raft of the Medusa" special. One of its main peculiarities has to do with its large size. According to expert calculations, this painting measures approximately 491 centimeters x 716 centimeters and it is a perfect illustration of the shipwreck suffered by the ship known as La Fragata, belonging to the French navy Méduse.
As many will remember, this ship sank off the coast of Mauritania on July 2, 1816 and represented one of the most tragic and unfortunate historical episodes at that time. The accident caused more than 140 people to be forced to drift on a raft that they made quickly and improvised. Most of these people ended up dying while waiting to be rescued. Only fifteen of the navigators were able to survive.
The sinking of the frigate is one of the most memorable events in French history. It is said that the people who were on board this ship spent around 13 days waiting for the rescue, facing different scenarios of hunger, lack of hydration, even fighting cannibalism unleashed by the lack of food and the desperation of the people.
This accident became one of the most famous in history, it even became a scandal in many countries of the world. It is believed that the sinking of the frigate occurred due to the responsibility of the French captain, who apparently caused the incident, following the orders of the newly restored French monarchy led by Louis XVIII.
The renowned painter of French origin Théodore Géricault decided to take this tragic context to develop his first prestigious work. The Raft of the Medusa ended up becoming a great world-renowned painting, in part, due to the impact that the shipwreck of the frigate had had. The painter took advantage of the high profile of the case to make a painting that caused interest in the public and at the same time boosted his artistic career.
The truth is that Géricault was very interested in this tragic event, so much so, that before starting to carry out the work, he took a long time to undertake an in-depth investigation into what had happened to that boat that ended in tragedy. The artist developed several preparatory sketches before making the final creation.
In order to make a detailed scale model of the raft, the French artist had to meet with many of the people involved in the marine accident, including two of the fifteen people who managed to survive the shipwreck. The painter met Alexandre Correard, an engineer from the Arts et Métiers, as well as Jean-Baptiste Savigny, a surgeon.
As the days progressed, Théodore Géricault's interest in investigating what had happened was even greater. He focused so much on the investigation that he came to visit mortuaries and hospital centers where he could verify with his own eyes the color and texture of the flesh of the victims of the accident.
Before launching his famous work "The Raft of the Medusa" to the public, the French painter had warned about how controversial a painting of these characteristics could be. As prophesied, the Frenchman's creation proved highly controversial at his first exhibition, at the Paris Salon in 1819. While he received rave reviews, he also had to deal with much negative feedback.
The controversy of the painting "The Raft of the Medusa" ended up consolidating the French artist as one of the best-known painters internationally. That first exhibition led Géricault to cement his global reputation, and the painting is, even today, widely considered a seminal work in the early history of Romanticism in French painting.
Although it is true that this emblematic work reflects many aspects of the genre of historical painting, not only in terms of its central theme but also the way in which it is represented, the work has a break with respect to the calm and order of the neoclassicist school then predominant. What can never be doubted is the great impact caused by the work "The Raft of the Medusa" from the first moment of its exhibition.
Both the first and the second exhibition of the painting succeeded in arousing the interest of many viewers, who considered it to be a tall painting. The work was acquired by the National Museum of France "Louvre", shortly after the unexpected death of the painter Géricault, who died at the age of 32.
Today, painting continues to have a great influence in world art and can be seen in the works of artists such as Eugène Delacroix, JMW Turner, Gustave Courbet and Édouard Manet.
The canvas known as "The Raft of the Medusa" was made in the 1818 decade, however the first time it was presented to the public was a year later, that is, in 1819, when it was exhibited at the Salon de Paris. Without a doubt, it is a monumental and historical work, which can currently be seen in the Mollien Room, Denon wing, of the Louvre Museum in the city of Paris.
If you want to learn a little more about this brilliant work, its history, context, and analysis, we invite you to stay tuned for our article today.
Context
As we have been commenting throughout this interesting article, the painting The Raft of the Medusa is inspired by the marine accident that occurred in the 1816 decade after the shipwreck of a ship. To understand a little more about this incident, it is important to analyze the context of how the events unfolded.
In the month of July of that same year, the ship involved in the accident began its journey through the waters, starting from the town of Rochefort and scheduled to arrive at the Senegalese port of Saint-Louis. The ship was leading a convoy made up of three other vessels: the hold ship Loire, the brigantine Argus and the corvette Écho.
The person in charge of leading the boat was Hugues Duroy de Chaumereys, who was appointed as the captain of the ship despite not having much experience on the subject, since he had sailed a few times in 20 years. Now, what was the purpose of this ship? The frigate was intended to accept the British return of the then colony of Senegal under the French terms of the Peace of Paris.
Important personalities were on board this boat, including the French governor elected to Senegal, Julien-Désiré Schmaltz, as well as his wife. The ship began its journey successfully, however in an attempt to reach its destination as quickly as possible, the Méduse was ahead of the other ships and due to its speed, it went adrift and deviated 100 kilometers from its course. (62mi).
On July 2, 1816, the ship accidentally stopped on a sandbank in the Bay of Arguin, on the West African coast, near present-day Mauritania. The incident occurred mainly due to the inexperience and lack of skill of the boat's captain, De Chaumereys, who had been appointed to that position, not because of his knowledge of boat handling, but rather because of political favoritism. .
For several days they tried to free the ship from where it had been trapped, however the efforts were not successful. Finding that he could not free the ship, the terrified passengers and crew tried to cross the 60 kilometers that separated them from the African coast in the frigate's six boats.
While it is true that the Medusa carried 400 people, including a crew of 160 sailors, those boats only had capacity for less than 250 people. The rest of the ship's crew (at least 146 men and one woman), crowded into a raft 20 meters long by 7 meters wide, made improvised and quickly, which partially submerged when receiving the load.
History indicates that an approximate of 17 people risked staying aboard the Medusa. The captain and crew aboard the other boats tried to tow the raft, but after only a few miles the raft's moorings came loose on their own or someone let go. The captain left the passengers of the raft delivered to his fate.
The situation began to worsen rapidly: on the first night some 20 people took their lives, although it was also said that they could have been killed, since for the sustenance of the raft crew they were only given a bag of cookies from the ship (consumed on the first day), two water containers (lost overboard during the fights) and some wine barrels.
“According to critic Jonathan Miles, the raft carried survivors to the frontiers of human experience. Deranged, thirsty and hungry, they slaughtered the mutineers, ate their dead comrades and killed the weakest.
After approximately 13 days had elapsed since the accident, the raft was finally rescued by the Argus spacecraft. The rescue occurred on July 17, 1816 and was fortuitous because until then no one had planned a search for the raft, not even the French forces. Unfortunately the rescue came too late, when most of the people had already died.
At the time of the rescue, only a total of 15 men were still alive, while the rest of the people who were on board the raft had already lost their lives. They could be killed or, alternatively, thrown overboard by their own adventure partners. It was also said that they could have died of starvation or would have thrown themselves into the sea by their own decision and in the midst of so much desperation.
The sinking of the frigate became a major international scandal, even considered a huge public embarrassment for the French monarchy, recently restored to power after the final defeat of Napoleon.
The story of the French ship "Medusa" could be described as one of the most hair-raising events of all time. This boat was shipwrecked off the African coast and a small number of people who were on board the ship were able to survive thanks to a raft.
In the middle of the sea, a French navy ship managed to spot the castaways but did not pick them up. The survivors had to endure hard times, including lack of food, thirst, sunstroke and disease. Most of the people died in the midst of laziness, while those who could survive, did so by eating the remains of their deceased companions.
Luckily, a freighter found them and returned them to France. At some point the facts of this accident were censored by government authorities, which prevented the media from broadcasting the events. The painter Théodore Géricault took the risk and decided to create a painting centered on this theme, in order to publicize the fact.
For two years the Frenchman's painting was banned and its exhibition was prevented, however, some time later he was able to exhibit it in the Official Hall and caused a tremendous social scandal at the time.
Frame analysis
The painting "The Raft of the Medusa" is a painting that does not record symmetry. In any case, it could be said that it shows us an intentional disorder aligned with the represented theme. Several guidelines (one of them the main one), two planes (first the raft and in the background the landscape), in short, a pyramidal structure on an unstable base (the sea).
In this emblematic painting by the Frenchman Théodore Géricault, the moment in which several people see their lives threatened after being shipwrecked aboard the frigate can be appreciated in detail. The painting also reflects the desperate attempt of the castaways to attract the attention of a sail on the horizon, the frigate that will not pick them up.
In the painting you can also see a considerable number of corpses in the lower part of the raft, as well as two people who are holding them. A very different reality can be seen in the upper part of the painting, where we can see the survivors of the shipwreck. This group of survivors are desperately making movements with their arms to try to get someone to observe them and come to their rescue.
The painting allows us to see as if in the boat, suddenly, a palpitation of life and hope had been born. In this spectacular painting you can see many elements that combine with the central painting, for example the color of the sky, which is completely cloudy, as well as the waters of the sea that are rough and agitated. The wind blows to the left, the only light that illuminates the painting comes from the upper left corner of the painting.
In this famous painting you can see between 17 and 21 crew members, among whom there are deceased, naked and scattered on the small raft discarded by the waves. The creator of this painting used oil on canvas as a central technique, in addition to a fairly large size, specifically almost five meters high and more than seven meters wide. It is important to note that these large sizes are typical of works of a historical nature.
The brush technique is also quite interesting in La Raft de la Medusa. It could be said that the French used a technique characterized mainly by being loose and having imprecise contours. It corresponds to a smooth texture according to what the experts on the subject say. There is also an importance of color on the drawing.
The figures that appear in the painting are made from spots of color, in general, however in some figures they have some parts in which a more defined line is used. The author manages to get volume out of the work thanks to the shadows that he places on each of the characters. The light is natural, taking into account that the characters are in the sea, and therefore it is ambient.
The colors used in this painting are also very specific, to the point of reducing the range of colors. The author of the painting "The Raft of the Medusa" uses a range from beige to black through light and dark brown tones. The color that stands out the most in this painting is the dark and subdued beige.
The purpose of the French painter Théodore Géricault with this work is to proclaim his rejection of historical painting, portraying a current event for the first time. He likewise chooses the theme of the shipwreck to express the anguish of destiny. For its realization, the artist had to interview several people involved in the incident, including two survivors, who posed for the painting.
Through the work "The Raft of the Medusa", Géricault became the main character to be a precursor to the current of Romanticism, so much so that he was considered the central figure of Romanticism in France. The work also has vindictive characters because its creator is aware, as well as the majority of the society of the time, that the shipwreck was caused by human errors. It is a painting-complaint.
The painter Théodore Géricault decides to select this subject with a key objective and that is to make known in greater depth everything that happened around this controversial shipwreck that shook France at the time. The style of this painting is French Romanticism, a literary and artistic movement that began to be in force at the end of the XNUMXth century and that spread practically throughout the European continent.
Perspective: There is no vanishing point, since the other two edges of the raft are hidden by the characters that are on it. The frame is frontal.
space type: "theatrical" space, composed (the characters are arranged in a curve that goes to the upper right corner of the canvas).
ColoursAppearance: The palette is very small, ranging from beige to black, passing through light and dark brown tones. In this way, he achieves an atmosphere of warm tones with harmonized colors that produces a dramatic impression of anguish and helplessness. The dominant color is dark beige and dull. However, there is one element that stands out from the rest due to its color: it is the reddish stole worn by the old man holding a corpse in his hand, in the lower left part of the painting.
Brushstroke: Romanticism is characterized by a loose brushstroke and imprecise contours, as is the case with this canvas.
You might also be interested in the following articles: