The Raft of the Medusa
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The Raft of the Medusa
Théodore Géricault
In 1818, the artist Théodore Géricault decided to paint a contemporary subject for the next annual art Salon in Paris to distinguish himself from traditional history painters. He opted for an event that had caused a scandal two years earlier: the shipwreck of the Medusa, a French navy frigate sent by King Louis XVIII to reclaim Senegal from the British. The ship was commanded by an incompetent captain who ran her aground off the West African coast then left 150 people to drift on a makeshift raft, where they had to resort to cannibalism to stay alive. Only ten survived. Géricault took a scientific approach to his subject, interviewing survivors and sketching amputated limbs that he borrowed from a hospital. The Raft of the Medusa was seen as scandalous when it was officially presented at the Salon, but over the years it gained a reputation as one of the first great Romantic paintings.
An anti-slavery painting?
Géricault’s work was unusual in that it depicted anonymous castaways in a style generally reserved for ancient heroes. The figures resemble idealised nude studies, depicted according to the norms of classical beauty. The pyramid of bodies draws the eye upwards to the figure waving a cloth: the fact that he is dark-skinned was significant in the early 19th century when the abolition of slavery was a burning issue.
