Visual

Gericault’s “The Raft of the Medusa” portrays an absolutely grisly image that shows abandoned individuals in various stages of despair. The canvas is nearly covered by the image of a raft that is stuck in turbulent waters. Striking color dominates the canvas, and provides a better setting for the various emotions that is scene on the faces of the people on the raft. Those in the greatest stages of death and despair seem to be on the right of the raft, while those who are still clinging to false hope are unsuccessfully trying to signal their ship on the right.

Context

According to Art to Heart, as well as information given to us in class, Gericault’s “The Raft of the Medusa” was made, essentially as political propaganda, to spread the story of the Bourbon Monarchy’s corruption and lack of moral value. The work tells the story of a Bourbon ship captain who leaves a large number of non-Bourbon shipwreck survivors to die on a slipshod raft. Gericault was, in essence, acting out against the corrupt Bourbon’s, and was eventually forced to go to England to show his works, because the government of his home country would not allow him to show his art.

Subjective

I absolutely love “The Raft of the Medusa” for its visual effect, as well as its story. The work is the polar opposite of the Neo-classical work “Parnassus”, which I reviewed in my last journal, in that it is both visually stunning, and provides a significant and meaningful story. I appreciate the use of color as subject matter, and find that it is easy to become lost in the emotion and color of the work.