Compare and Contrast
Raft of the Medusa vs. Le Dejeuner sur L’Herbe
In “The Raft of the Medusa” by Theodore Gericault there was use of the Baroque treatment of light in this painting. There is a physically powerful contrast between the spread-out group of survivors to the movement of the raft itself. There is a sharp contrast of light and dark colors of dynamic poses. There is a black man at the top of the survivors that is waving a rag or piece of cloth in desperation for rescue. The raft is full of saddened emotions for everyone involved. There is also Baroque treatment of light in the painting “Le Dejeuner sur L’Herbe” by Edouard Manet. The ways the colors of light and dark are used are reminders of the Baroque period. The woman that’s nude seems to be the focus of the painting and has an illuminating glow of her body surrounded by a dark background as she looks at the viewers with defiance. The other woman who is at the pond also seems to glow as she bathes with her white gown on. There are really no dark areas of shadow from any of the figures in the painting.
In “The Raft of the Medusa” the painter uses a lot of dark colors because the scene is very sad. He used brown, black and red; there is also a lot of form in this painting starting with the ocean waves on the left side of the painting and the around the survivors. Also in the sky where it looks like the sun is setting over the horizon. The line within the painting is the shape of a triangle. Light color is used on the men that seem to have fallen deathly ill or who has passed away.
In the “Le Dejeuner sur L’ Herbe, there are some dark colors that are used in this painting, brown, red, black, and green. There are also some light colors that were used two color blues, white, orange, yellow, and light green. There is a line form on the grass from the left side of the painting that ends on the right to a tree. The form and technique used for this painting was innovative with the flat application of color. The most significant form of the painting is of the nude woman and also the woman by the pond.
You May Also Find These Documents Helpful
-
The variation of colors he used created an outstanding display of nature that I never thought possible. I believe his purpose was to create imagery, an illusion to the audience, as if they were looking into the American West, through his painting. The entity of light was the key element of this painting. The form of a fine white line amid a mass of water allowed the separation of the earth and the heavens. What is intriguing about the painting is that as quickly as the earth and heaves were separated, the two joined once again at the same location. The reflection of the lake elaborated on the purity of the water and the richness of life. The contrast of dark and light colors served a great importance in his painting.…
- 679 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
What technique that contrasts large areas of dark with smaller illuminated areas did Caravaggio master?…
- 416 Words
- 5 Pages
Satisfactory Essays -
What technique that contrasts large areas of dark with smaller illuminated areas did Caravaggio master?…
- 1188 Words
- 1 Page
Satisfactory Essays -
"The Raft of the Medusa" is a famous 19th-century French painting that is considered an icon of the Romanticism time period. "The Raft of the Medusa" was based on an event whose human and political aspects fascinated Géricault. The painting was meant to portray a wreck of a French Royal Navy frigate named Medusa off the coast of Senegal in 1816 as the frigate was meant to colonize Senegal but Ancien Régime the captain who had not sailed for over twenty years ran the ship aground on a sandbank. The frigate had over 150 soldiers on board but did not have enough life boats to save them all thus forcing the remainder of the crew to build a raft. Géricault researched the story in detail and made numerous sketches before deciding on his final draft,…
- 153 Words
- 1 Page
Satisfactory Essays -
The painting consists of a very blue color scheme throughout. This is, in most cases, associated with coldness and sometimes death. The dark blue background also, as mentioned above, provided almost an extreme contrast. In addition to the background, her hair also dark. Had he chosen blonde hair, the contrast would dulled. Most importantly, the girl’s eyeliner very much brings out her eyes. It is strategically placed on her waterlines rather than lids to accentuate her eyeballs and provide incredibly sharp corners to her eyes. The coldness and “deathly” tone of the painting manifests an eerie and dangerous theme. The contrast and accentuation of the girl and her eyes inclines the audience to be intrigued by the girls fearlessness in a cold and deathly…
- 574 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
The Raft of the Medusa was an oil painting with Gericault’s interpretation of what happened when a French naval ship Medusa was wrecked and survivors were forced onto a raft. The painting shows the dead bodies that were used as food for the surviving group. It also seems like this is the point when they are calling out to another ship to be rescued. The painting is huge so some of the people are life size while others are even bigger than humans. This painting could be very controversial, imagine one of your love one’s passed and was feasted on, chances are you would not like this depiction of events. That makes it completely opposite to the Vietnam…
- 454 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
The marine life design or painting was done with black paint which greatly contrasts to the ceramic’s light-toned…
- 342 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
One such dark painting is “Famine Five”, one of the many paintings Howson produced based on war. It was created in 2009 and is oil on canvas. The figure is a drained looking woman, painted from the chest upwards. This piece is focused on war; Howson has managed to convey the effects of war, by exaggerating the expression on the woman’s face. She looks starved, depressed and tired looking. This is shown through the deep wrinkles in her face and how big and drooping her eyes are. The palette used in this painting is all dark, earthy oranges and a deep blue is used for the background. This contrast between the orange and blue helps the woman stand out from the deep, dull blue sky in the background, making her have an almost orange glow to her skin. The texture Howson has created on the woman is very rough, almost like her features have been scratched. This effect has been created by using a dry paint brush, and what looks like scraping the paint off. This is to show us that she is dirty as you can see her skin has black marks and scuffs all over it. The woman’s face is the focal point,…
- 955 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
In The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Tulp (1632), not only did Rembrandt depict the different facial expression of the figures, but he also used the lighting effects to convey a shadow of the characters on the wall to make the image more life-like. The shadows of the figures cast on each other in the painting create a sense of depth. This helps create the effects that the characters are standing in a real space (p.350). The use of lighting was more blatant in Sophonisba Receiving the Poisoned Cup (1634), wherein the old woman in the background is hidden by the shadow. This woman gives a sense of mystery that the viewers can interpret it differently — the old woman may come to rescue Sophonisba, or she is in there to make sure Sophonisba drinks the poison. In The Night Watch (1642), there is a little girl in the center that more lights cast on her to make her appear more clearly so that this icon can stand out. The shadow on the background also creates the effect of brightness of the clothes of the two solider in the front. Rembrandt’s use of lighting effects depict the real moment in these paintings — the doctors involve in an anatomy in the dark room, the scene of a woman drinks the poison, and the soldiers patrol in the city at…
- 605 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
There are a number of different hues of blue used in the body of water and also white highlights. The white highlights give implied light since there is no actual light source. Many of the darker hues are behind the boats, creating shadows on the water. The painting mostly consists of primary colors, red, yellow, and blue. Green and orange, secondary colors, can also be seen within the painting.…
- 782 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
This piece of art was created by Claude Monet. He is known as the classic impressionist. In this painting, he captures the ever-changing nature of light and color. Unlike a lot of paintings, you can see the brush strokes in this painting. But I believe that the brush strokes used help create the piece of art and they help show the leaves and flowers on the trees. Also, it helps make the clouds in the sky look more hazy and beautiful.…
- 920 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
Homer uses the color red of the woman’s scarf to pull you toward her and to bring out the drama, danger, passion, and fear. He also uses dark colors such as dark blue and grey to show drama and that the two people are scared for their lives. Light is another element used for the waves. As can be seen in the painting, the wave that is under the two figures is the lightest one to create a focal point on the two above. Perspective is used with the two figures in the foreground to show the importance. The painter does not want you to focus on too much, but them. Line is used for the ropes and the pulley system. The lines of the rope drag your eyes straight to the main focus point and that’s the woman and the man. The painting has symmetrical balance because it has the two figures in the middle and on the sides there are both large masses. To the right, there is the ship and to the left, there is a large wave. That is all the formal elements used in this painting by Winslow…
- 1483 Words
- 6 Pages
Good Essays -
The Raft of the Medusa was created by Theodore Gericault in the years 1818 and 1819 during the French Romantic period. This oil painting, which stands at a massive 491x716cm, was created to capture the tragedy of the Medusa.This essay discusses what the Raft of the Medusa was, the reasons behind why Theodore Gericault made this painting and the political impacts it had at the time it was made. The ‘Medusa’ was a french frigate that set sail in 1816 from Rochefort heading to Senegalese. Harris (2011) states that Gericault read an account by survivors about the tragedy of the shipwreck and was intrigued to learn more. He learnt that the shipwreck was the fault of the ships captain ‘Duroy de Chaumereys’ who was an incompetent sailor and hadn't sailed in years. His poor navigation skills put them 100 miles off course and in the way of a sand bar. Hirsch-Allen (2004) describes when the ship crashed there was only room on the life boats for 250 people of the 400 present. The 150 patrons not able to get on the life rafts were forced to salvage what they could to create a make shift raft to be towed to safety by the other life rafts, although soon after agreeing to this the ropes connecting the ships was severed and the Raft of the Medusa was left stranded. The majority of the survivors on the raft died the first night, others died of exposure, starvation and some just fell overboard. The soldiers and sailors began a mutiny being the strongest onboard, and by the end of the second night another 65 people were dead. By the fourth day all the remaining passengers had turned to cannibalism in order to stay alive. Another 9 days went past and by that point there were only 15 men alive on the raft. The oil painting ‘The Raft of The Medusa’ shows the moment the men see the rescue ship and attempt to signal it. Gericault has perfectly depicted the struggle and strain the men went…
- 1174 Words
- 5 Pages
Better Essays -
In Franz Marc painting “The Blue Horses” he uses a few of the primary colors. In the artists painting, I feel that he used a little chiaroscuro and contoured lines to show volume. Franz used contoured lines throughout the horse’s bodies, as well as in the tall grass painting around the horses. He demonstrates volume also with the subtle color changes, using the darker and lighter hues of blue in the creases if the horse’s bodies. The artist used a closed palette of abstract colors in this 1911 piece. He used blue, red and yellow to create the sky out of in this painting, and those colors complement each other well. The artist also show us a subtle change in color, within the blue and red scale throughout sky. The blue next to the yellow gives…
- 171 Words
- 1 Page
Good Essays -
Artists such as Caravaggio, Rembrandt, Rubens and Poussin contributed to the Baroque period by using chiaroscuro lighting to dramatize scenes. Unlike the artwork of the Renaissance, Baroque artwork often showed action at the moment it happened. An example of…
- 164 Words
- 1 Page
Good Essays