"The Raft of the Medusa" is a milestone of Romanticism. Théodore Géricault, sometimes called one of the first reporters of history, shows his interest in real, documented events on this canvas, long 7 metres per 5 in height, depicting, as the title suggests, the aftermath of the wreck of this French naval frigate, Méduse, off the coast of Mauritania on 2nd July 1816. The captain of the ship is considered the probable cause of this disaster, since it said that he hadn't driven a boat for more than 25 years when he was appointed captain of Méduse. About 150 passengers could escape the dark fate by improvising the raft, but eventually, after 13 long days of desolating wandering in the ocean, only 15 of them could return home alive.
GĂ©ricault was only 27 when he painted "The Raft of the Medusa". He was so fascinated by this particular subject that he planned and studied every detail possibile before even starting to paint it. It is known that GĂ©ricault interviewed two of the survivors of the disaster, inspected some of the corpses of the ones who lost their life in the incident and even built a scale model of the raft.
The composition is paradox. There is a meticulous work of symmetry, with all of the characters standing within a classical art scheme, the triangle, symbol of the sacred trinity and, according to Plato, of Man and Earth as well. This air of symmetry, tragic heroism and almost divine perfection that the painting breathes is only contrasted by what's actually within the triangle.
Desperation, survival, chaos, hope, death.
As Théodore had imagined it to be, his work of art proved to be controversial when it was first displayed at the Salon de Paris in 1819. Nowadays, it is regarded as a masterpiece of French art, and, I would dare to say, of the entire world, too.
Théodore Géricault, "The Raft of the Medusa" 1819, oil on canvas, Musée du Louvre, Paris, France
