Théodore Géricault
The Raft of the Medusa

Masterpiece Series

After Klimt’s Beethoven Frieze and Vermeer’s Milkmeid, this week Wertical magazine has the pleasure to analyze Théodore Géricault’s famous ‘Radeau de la Méduse’.

1. The Raft of the Medusa represents the seeking of a boat entitled ‘Méduse’ on the Mauritania coast
2. It relates a real story that happened on the 2nd July 1816
3. Several people passed away on the boat for cause of of dehydration, madness and cannibalism
4. The painting is a masterpiece of ‘Romanticism’
5. To be exactly precise in his depiction, Géricault studied dead bodies in hospital and morgues
6. Was the masterpiece of the 1819 Salon
7. The radeau de la Méduse was exhibited in London and Irland in 1820 and 1821
8. It was bought by the Louvre in 1824 for 6 000 French Francs, place where it can still be contemplated nowadays.
9. It inspired the sea depiction of Turner, Courbet and Delacroix
10. The iconic painting was referred in numerous works such as L’Assommoir of Emile Zola, Tintin’s Adventures or in ‘Les Mots’ interpreted by Seal.

Théodore Géricault, The raft of the Medusa, 1818–1819, Oil on canvas, 491 cm × 716 cm (16′ 1″ × 23′ 6″ )


Théodore Géricault, The raft of the Medusa, detail of the left corner, 1818–1819, Oil on canvas, 491 cm × 716 cm (16′ 1″ × 23′ 6″ )

Théodore Géricault, Study for le Radeau de La Méduse, ink, 17,6 cm × 24,5 cm