Géricault,Théodore (1791-1824) - The Raft of the Medusa (study) 1818

The Raft of the Medusa (1818-19) depicts the aftermath of a contemporary French shipwreck, Medusa, in which the captain had left the crew and passengers to die.

The incident became a national scandal, and Géricault's dramatic interpretation presented a contemporary tragedy on a monumental scale. The painting's notoriety stemmed from its indictment of a corrupt establishment, but it also dramatised a more eternal theme, that of man's struggle with nature. It surely excited the imagination of the young Eugène Delacroix, who posed for one of the dying figures.

The painting ignited political controversy when first exhibited at the Paris Salon of 1819; it then travelled to England in 1820, accompanied by Géricault himself, where it received much praise.

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Read more about Théodore Géricault.