The raft of Medusa - Essay Example

Sur The raft of Medusa The raft of medusa is a painting that was painted by an artist known as Theodore Gericault in the year 1819. This painting depicts a dilapidated raft riding in deep waves while the men on it appear desperate and worn-out. One of the men is shown tearing his own hair due to frustration while another man is shown holding a corpse of his son on his knees. In addition, the painting shows several bodies lying on the raft and in the foreground a man is waving a handkerchief while standing on an empty barrel.

This painting depicts the tragic events that followed when a French ship known as the medusa hit a sand bank and run aground. The painting was meant to criticize the French government for its role in the tragedy. Moreover, the painting also breaks away from the convectional behavior in other ways by depicting slavery, gender subversions and cannibalism (Alhadeff). This painting diverges from bourgeois myth by critiquing the French government. The painting is able to function from the bourgeois of society despite its allusions to slavery, cannibalism and gender subversions which part from purified societal norms.

This work remains legible in bourgeois society since other motifs within the work draw them back into construct. The raft of medusa simplifies the actual events that took place by focusing on just the characters and their emotions hence allowing the viewers to interpret the work in terms of the roles that government mistakes, alcohol and desertion played in the tragic event. However, when the painting was created it caused a scandal because its viewers blamed the government for its role because it appointed the incompetent ship captain.

In addition, the painting critiques the government as an embarrassing subject as its composition is a critique of French slavery and colonization. This is depicted by a black man standing on barrel at the pinnacle of the pyramid form. Similarly, the painting implies the role of the French government in colonization because the passengers of the ship were on their way to a colony in Senegal when the ship hit the reef. The black man that appears at the top of the composition does not fit into the hierarchy of bourgeois society although the pyramid fit with the convections of history of painting.

When the contemporaries discussed the political agenda of the painting they ignored the black man’s placement. This shows that the critique of the society, colonization and slavery extended too far beyond the reach of the acceptable society (Alhadeff). The old man holding a young man on the foreground symbolizes suffering and despair. This also alludes to images of Mary with Christ lying on her lap hence showing a connection to religion and supreme suffering which was not simply the suffering of one man but the anguish and despair of the entire humanity (Alhadeff).

In conclusion, the raft of the medusa serves to critique the French government in its role in the tragic events of the medusa. Furthermore, the painting is able to attract the attention of the viewer due to the dramatic depiction of the foreground in which bodies are shown lying on the raft. Even today, this painting retains its relevance as a reminder of the grave consequences that government corruption and ineptitude can have on society. Works Cited Alhadeff, Albert. The Raft of the Medusa: Gericault, Art and Race.

London: Prestel, 2002.