The Raft of the Medusa and the Roots of Romanticism

The transition from Neoclassicism to Romanticism arose from a desire for freedom of thought. Romantics truly believed that the pathway to freedom was through imagination rather than logic and functioned based on emotion rather than on cognition. The Romantic Movement recognized passion and sentiment as genuine sources of aesthetic experience, and placed a new emphasis on sensations such as apprehension, awe, horror and the sublimity of untamed nature. Théodore Géricault, who is most famously known for The Raft of the Medusa, was a prominent French painter and one of the most influential pioneers of the Romantic Movement. In The Raft of the Medusa, Géricault, unlike most artists during this stylistic time period, rejected the Neoclassical principles of classical antiquity and embraced the histrionics of Romanticism through the use of natural color, anatomy, emotion and position.

Although the painting itself displays many impressive artistic styles, it is also important to consider the artwork’s historical context. The Raft of the Medusa depicts the aftermath of the shipwreck of the French naval frigate Médusa, which crashed off the African coast. The desperate passengers then built a makeshift raft from the pieces of the destroyed ship, which is the moment depicted in Géricault’s painting. Particularly, The Raft of the Medusa was a contemporary piece that commented on the practice of slavery and the incompetence of the new French government in the early 19th century. Géricault, an abolitionist, sought ways to end the slave trade in the colonies. The anti-slavery cause was well known at the time and was highly promoted by the abolitionists throughout France. Thus, due to Géricault’s repugnance towards slavery, it is only fitting ...

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...enthal, Donald. "Gericault's Expenses for the Raft of the Medusa." Art Bulletin 62.4 (1980): 638-40. Ebscohost. Web. Mar. 2014. http://eds.b.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.sju.edu/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=b2489ec8-2b69-4fa6-bdb1-42d1d7b1b3d2%40sessionmgr198&vid=7&hid=109

Books (Both Interlibrary Loans)

1) Eitner, Lorenz. Géricault's Raft of the Medusa. London: Phaidon, 1972. Print.

2) Athanassoglou-Kallmyer, Nina M. Théodore Géricault. London: Phaidon, 2010. Print.

Other Online Sources

1) Spiegelman, Willard. "Revolutionary Romanticism." The Wall Street Journal. Dow Jones & Company, Aug. 2009. Web. Mar. 2014. http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052970204119704574236393080650258

2) Jefferis, Phil. "'Raft of the Medusa' - Theodore Gericault (1819)." Thompson Dunn. Thompson Dunn, May 2005. Web. Mar. 2014. http://www.thompsondunn.co.uk/newsletter2/page16.html