Theodore Gericault - Raft of The Medusa - 1819 - Louvre - Oil on Canvas

Théodore Géricault – The Raft of the Medusa (1818–1819)
Dimensions: 491 cm × 716 cm (193 in × 282 in)
Location: Louvre Museum, Paris (since 1824) 

Historical Context & Inspiration

The painting is based on the real-life wreck of the French naval frigate Méduse on July 2, 1816, off the coast of present-day Mauritania.

Key Events:

• The ship, carrying 400 passengers (including the newly appointed governor of Senegal and his entourage), ran aground on a sandbank due to incompetence of the captain, Hugues Duroy de Chaumareys, a royalist appointee with little seafaring experience — appointed through political favoritism after the Bourbon Restoration.
• After failed attempts to free the ship, 147 people were abandoned on a hastily built raft while the privileged escaped in lifeboats.
• The raft drifted for 13 days. Only 15 survived — enduring starvation, dehydration, madness, suicide, murder, and cannibalism.
• The scandal erupted when two survivors, surgeon Jean-Baptiste Henri Savigny and engineer Alexandre Corréard, published a bestselling account in 1817: Naufrage de la frégate Méduse.

Géricault’s Obsession & Preparation (1818–1819)

Géricault, then 27, was determined to make this a monumental denunciation of corruption and human suffering.

Research & Realism:

• Interviewed survivors (Savigny and Corréard) in Paris.
• Visited hospitals and morgues to study corpses and the effects of starvation and disease.
• Commissioned a scale model of the raft from the ship’s carpenter.
• Had his studio filled with cadavers, severed heads, and limbs (some decomposing) to study putrefaction.
• Painted studies of the dying — including his friend, painter Eugène Delacroix, posing as a corpse.
• Shaved his head and isolated himself for months to focus.

Composition & Symbolism

The painting captures the moment of hoped-for rescue — the tiny ship Argus on the horizon (barely visible).

• Pyramidal structure: Bodies form two triangles — one of despair (left), one of frantic hope (right, with the waving African sailor, Jean Charles, at the peak).
• Romanticism + Realism: Dramatic lighting, muscular bodies, raw emotion — but grounded in anatomical accuracy.
• Political allegory: Criticizes the Bourbon monarchy for negligence and class injustice.

Reception & Controversy (1819 Salon)

• Exhibited at the Paris Salon of 1819 under the neutral title Scène de Naufrage (Shipwreck Scene) to avoid censorship.
• Divided critics:
  • Praised for technical mastery and emotional power.
  • Attacked for “piling corpses,” ugliness, and anti-government message.
• King Louis XVIII reportedly said: "Monsieur Géricault, you have painted a shipwreck that is not one for you." (ambiguous — could be praise or sarcasm)

Aftermath & Legacy

Restoration & Condition

• 1930s: Major restoration removed yellowed varnish, revealing original vivid colors.
• 2016–2017: Scientific analysis confirmed use of bitumen (causing cracking) and Géricault’s experimental techniques.

Key Symbolism Recap

Waving figure (Jean Charles) - Hope, racial equality (rare for 1819)

Corpse hanging off raft - Futility, abandonment

Stormy sky → clearing light - Transition from despair to possible salvation

Cannibalism (implied) - Moral collapse of civilization

Quote from Géricault (attributed)

"I want to paint something that will make people stop and think."

He succeeded. The Raft of the Medusa remains one of the most powerful indictments of political failure and human resilience in art history.

Current Location: 

Louvre, Denon Wing, Room 700 (Mollien)

Tip: 

View it from a distance to grasp the full drama — then up close to see the visceral brushwork.