The Raft Of The Medusa By Theodore Gericault

Formal Analysis Paper: The Raft of the Medusa Around the age of 27 Theodore Gericault painted his masterpiece about the Raft of the Medusa, which was in the early nineteenth century or roughly around the year 1818-1819. He was a French painter and this portrait became a major influence on French Romanticism. This idea of romanticism was a school of thought, in which it focused more of a remote and exotic point in time and place. Gericault’s influence was by the likes of Michelangelo and Rembrandt and it was with this style of painting that inspired this French Romanticism. When discussing this artwork you would have to discuss two key elements: one you have to discuss the visual element and two you have to discuss the principle of
82). Furthermore, Gericault wanted to depict those few that survived on the raft as the ones that sighted a ship to help rescue them. As we look closely at the painting we will notice that most of the lines are diagonal and he wanted to use them as a means to show two centers that were a conflict of interest and then it is best illustrated how tense the situation was. Beyond that, the lines in his work were to get our eyes focused on the dark silhouetted man waving his shirt to get those of the other ship to come over and rescue them from their perilous journey on the raft. Also the rope gets our eyes turned toward the left facing the dark shadow on the sail. Then when we realized the wind is taking our sails toward our salvation, we soon begin to realize how much further we are straying off of our intended goal which we had in mind (p.
The arms and legs of the sailors, the floorboards of the raft, and the angle of the sail all direct attention toward the rescue ship in the upper right corner. Initially, when you look at the painting the rescue ship is not so visible at first, but when you look at again then you can see it. More so than that we can see how Gericault uses these lines to create this visual and as you can see that color will help the viewer’s guide their eyes. We also see in the painting that the size it is not apparent, but we know that by examining the painting, the size of the artwork is an essential element. Most of us know that this original painting is still located in the Louvre, which is in Paris, France and is 16 x 23 feet. The painting of the Raft of the Medusa was to give the feeling to the viewer that it belongs to the landscape in the painting. Gericault’s paintings generate a value by using a series of dull colors and initially were drawn to the blackness of the palette to the brightness and light from the