The Raft of the Medusa - Essay Example

The Ruft of the Medusa: Artist- Theodore Gericault (1818)

Introduction/artists biography

The Raft of the Medusa is a painting developed by a romantic painter known as Theodore Gericault. It was done in 1818, and the artist completed the work when he was only 24 years old. Currently, his work is an icon of Romanticism and is a huge breakthrough in the European artistic course (Snell, pp7). Generally, the work defines a frightening and nerve-racking moment that happens after the French naval frigate Medusa wreck. The French community was annoyed when they established what had occurred to Medusa was related to government incompetency. Therefore, Theodore decided to paint the story, and the French community, which was never easily shocked, became shocked. The painting became an inspiration for the younger painters and is a quick rise to the iconic level status.

Theodore was eager to make a name for himself using the painting. He put in a lot of work to develop it through thorough research about the subject he was painting and even going to hospices and mortuaries to assess both the dying and the dead (Snell, pp7). During his time reconstructing the raft of the sea to see how it rode the waves, he severed body that had been taken from a native mortuary, and he left the parts to degenerate in the studio and later utilized them as references. Theodore also worked from live models, and one of them was the Delacroix, which is the corpse lying facing downwards with extended arms. Despite the effort he put into the painting, there were many discrepancies, and the discrepancies were intentional for dramatic effect and compositional balance. For example, the painting comprises twenty figures instead of the correct number, which is fifteen.

The painting was named The Scene of a Shipwreck at the 1819 salon to evade harsh reactions from the French government (Snell, pp7). He was initially unable to find a buyer of the work in his own country, which prompted him to exhibit the painting in continental Europe ad England. Over 40,000 persons came to see the work in London, and the fascination with the painting was frightening. The work was eventually sold, and the French government later saved it from some French nobles who wanted to cut it and sell it piecemeal. Currently, the painting can be viewed at the Louvre and the artists, Theodore died at 32 years of age five years after he had completed the painting.

Formal visual analysis

The artwork is huge in scale since the piece has a canvas 16 feet by 24 feet in total. Therefore, it has the consequence of dwarfing the spectator, and this adds to the gallant or greater than life existence to the characters (Ledbury, pp605). Furthermore, an observer is instantly conscious of the palette's temperamental darkness since human forms appear from what is dark blackness to the golden rays of the setting sun. The artwork is depressed of any vibrant color since it comprises somber colors and pale flash tomes, meaning that its mood is gloomy overall. The bundle of survivors is bounded by the increasing surge of the risky waters and the threatening clouds that hang low over on the skyline.

Everywhere, there is a sensation of undertaking and vigor, and compositionally, the work is ruled by the robust diagonal flow that prods upward from the lower left-hand corner to the upper-right hand (Ledbury, pp607). The energy can be felt through the picture, and the mass of the packed sail counterbalances it to the left since the weight fills with an irritated air. Further, every observer notices a sad man on the lower left and a figure that waves a cloth in the upper right. Also, it is at this point that the observer seems to adopt a position moving in the air since, like an encircling bird, the viewer would be able to view the grim tableau. In general, the unity of the art is influential, and the steadiness unmatched. The figural methods that are animated develop a visual pressure that remains pleasant.

Iconographic analysis

Ichnographically, the essay is linked to a broad variety of other imageries, and this passes the painting into dialogue with the sources hence allowing it to fit into modern myth (Lum, pp15). Further, the iconography of the painting mentions both sad occurrences on the raft and other graphic and mythical documents, and this reinforces both the real events and the lengthy connections. Also, the old male and the younger persons in the left forefront of the painting are seen to be a daddy and son, and this is usually the symbolism of sorrow and despair. But, significantly, the father and son do not reflect an even that happened on the raft since it is an event that happened several days before the rescue. The young boy died in the arms of the old man. Contemporaries could easily connect the father and son in pointing to the account of Count Ugolino and his sons in Dante’s blaze, whereby he ate his kids when he was dying in the Pisan Tower (Lum, pp15). It is a symbolism of literary cannibalism. Furthermore, the father's melancholic pose is important since a viewer can connect it to the images of Melancholia and Pieta images whereby an old man holds a boy child in his lap. The literary cannibalism of Gericault shows the despair that existed during the raft occurrence, and the highly specific despair disconnects the work from the observer and its broader implementation to humankind as a whole.

Furthermore, the painting has themes that openly challenge the real events and improve the character in a manner that permits the observers to understand the work's political evaluation (Lum, pp16). For instance, the men in Theodore painting do not reveal men as corrupt figures but as muscular and heroic ones. Further, in addition to the painting emphasizing humanity, the painter has given them the authority to save themselves, and this allows them to become protagonists and not just sailors. The heroic effect is important since it contradicts the description of the narrative. Furthermore, Theodore included the causes of government misconduct in his painting, and that is why the painting was infamous among the French government officials. The painting doesn't refer to other causes of suffering stress politics as the primary factor that leads to suffering (Lum, pp17). The mast and sail in the middle of the painting show the heroes' determinations to save themselves hence downplaying the actual rescue at the hands of the French Argus. The aloof contextual is the ship that finally saves the survivors meaning that they move forward in period and recessive in canvas. It is the survivors' activities that bring them close to the ship and not the activities of the seafarers on the Argus.

In summary, Theodore focuses on a single moment in his painting since the forefront figures stay gloomy and ignorant of the ship's existence, and the figures in the middle and background are united in their push towards the vessel in a hopeful mood. Further, the painting simplifies actual events and doesn’t add to them (Lum, pp17). The event comprised disaster and reasons for rescue. The painting concentrates on the characters and their feelings, hence permitting the viewers to understand the work by utilizing their information and skills.

Contextual analysis

As a 27-year-old, Theodore used the painting to show a tragic and controversial subject, the naval accident that happed in 1816, and led to a national scandal. It was during this time that the French empire was re-established, and the naivety of the captain of the ship, which led to the accidence reinforced the public anger and resentment about the reappearance of the fragments of the French nobility which had been expelled during the Revolution (Rosenthal, pp837). Furthermore, the survivors endured dangerous conditions and found a spot on a hurriedly arranged raft, and this induces a deep understanding of the heroic struggle of human survival when human beings are faced with overwhelming odds. The painting shows the stark realism of the world and the intuitive association to the hardships and fear of constant demise, cannibalism, madness, and desperateness that link to the larger romantic responsiveness, which was more evident in the painting. Some generations of Gericault, such as Eugene Delacroix, favored such subjects matters that touched on human dram and the influence of nature (Rosenthal, pp837). The focus on ordinary and illogical constituents of human behavior influenced French politics and helped shape the current politics. Initially, the painting had a lukewarm reception in France, but after its successful exhibition in France, it became one of the most prized paintings in France.

The formal language used is symbolic of the romantic susceptibilities and historical setting associated with the patient. It is clear that the painter used the language to evoke emotions in an observer, and the handling of the light and dark and the energetic forced of the waves contributed to his purpose (Rosenthal, pp838). Furthermore, the work scope shows that it was meant for a big public audience; hence, people would discuss their emphatic reactions to what they had understood and even question the legitimacy of implying that the government messed when it chose an incompetent captain. Furthermore, there is a visual preeminence to hope for a better outcome of things and the need to move away from tragedies. The painting tends to appeal to a person's inner emotions by asking profound queries about the nature of existence, the wonder of human elasticity when people are faced with the unforgiving power of nature, inner-struggles we all face as human beings and barbarism (Rosenthal, pp838). Through the painters handling of the space, dramatic and light effects, all themes are brought to light, and the characters emphasize the message they intend to communicate. Finally, the painting style depends on the Baroque movement's fluidity and drama, the use of loose brushstrokes, somber colors, dramatic poses, and the contrast of light and dark to pass its message across.