On The Raft Of The Medusa

The Raft of the Medusa is a Romantic painting by Théodore Géricault from the early 19th century. Géricault was a French artist and lithographer who had a short but influential career. The Raft of the Medusa, arguably his most famous work, was first exhibited in the Salon of 1819 and proved controversial at the time as whilst it adhered to aesthetic standards of fine art but focused on an event from contemporary history rather than an interpretation of an Ancient Greek or Roman tale. The painting was inspired by an article published by two survivors of a tragic event – Alexandre Corréard and Henri Savigny. Entitled “The Shipwreck of the Medusa”, Corréard and Savigny’s article aimed to detail the tragedy of a shipwreck and the flaws in the system
It is frozen in animation and its crash is inevitable. We are thus invited to question not ‘if’ but ‘when’ it will crash and what devastation it will bring to the remaining survivors. While neither seeming to fall nor grow, the wave’s destructive power - and through extension, nature’s - is realised. To the right, a horizon is visible and the lighting of the sky illuminates the painting’s hero, the Argus. The ship is silhouetted, creating tension, as the viewer is unsure whether it is coming or going. In fact, the Argus did indeed disappear for more than two hours before coming to the raft’s rescue. Géricault has framed the raft with two symbols, one a threatening wave with immediate destructive power and the other a ship in the distance with a questionable intention and ability to aid the survivors. Through this framing, Géricault dismisses a focus on the future rescue of the people and draws the viewer into considering the present and the immediate.
With a wave blocking the horizon on the right and multiple waves on the left forcing the horizon into retreat, the focus is placed on the foreground and the people. The Argus, the people’s hero and hint of Neoclassicism, is sent back into the painting as nature and emotion fill the frontal