Generally, the interactions between nations becomes more apparent in the cultures of these regions as time goes on. From the merging of local and foreign advancements or the appropriation of ideas, this influence slowly transforms characteristics of a nation’s identity. This also goes for the evolution of art as artists started to create pieces that reflected events outside of their country.
Théodore Géricault’s 1818 Raft of the Medusa exposes a dark truth that was usually ignored by other European historical paintings made in the same period. Based on a tragic coastal incident that occurred a couple years prior, he focused a specific moment which honestly expressed the horrors of the situation.
To provide some context, in July 1816, a French naval ship transporting several government officials and some other groups to Senegal got shipwrecked near the coast of West Africa. To avoid their demise, a decision was made to place the higher rank passengers onto the available lifeboats while the rest were stuffed onto a raft crafted from the Medusa’s debris, which was then attached to the boats.
However, the extra weight proved detrimental so the “more elite passengers in the boats took axes and cut the lines to the raft, casting it adrift” (McCoy). When support arrived, only 15 out of the 150 raft members managed to survive.
The scene depicted was the moment after a ship passed by the disintegrating raft. Every component in this piece ties back to a reference that Géricault personally took the time to study and develop. For instance, the “heightened emotion and tense figures” of Michelangelo” paired with Caravaggio’s chiaroscuro truly fulfills the artist’s aim for a scene of death and despair (McCoy).
Finally, the romantic concept that “people, like animals, were not solely rational beings but were governed by instinct and emotion” is illustrated by Géricault with the piles of corpses amongst the desperate living (McCoy). The reasoning behind their deaths is the elites’ decision to let their own self-preservation overshadow their rational thinking. Combined with the visible black figures, it is further express how the entire issue with the slave trade in Senegal provides more evidence on how it was more harmful to both those controlling it and being controlled by it.
Without the slave trade tying the French to colonies in Senegal, the motivation for Géricault’s painting would cease to exist, being a prime example of cause & effect. In Romanticism, contemporary politics was a subject that was often explored, so this specific event allowed him to create a piece that confronted the expectation of an ideal historical piece by doing his own research and not just listening to what the media put in the newspapers.
In retrospect, one can state that this genre of art intentionally concealed the devastations of many historical events and to counter it, Romanticism pushed the agenda of focusing on the artist’s emotions and thoughts without conforming to what others want the artist to do.
Additional Resources:
- “Géricault, Raft of the Medusa (Article).” Khan Academy, Khan Academy, www.khanacademy.org/humanities/becoming-modern/romanticism/romanticism-in-france/a/gericault-raft-of-the-medusa.
- McCoy, Dr. Claire Black, and Dr. Claire Black McCoy. “Romanticism in France.” Smarthistory, smarthistory.org/romanticism-in-france/.