The Raft of the Medusa by Theodore Gericault. Completed when the
artist was 27, the work has become an icon of French Romanticism.It is an
over-life-size painting that depicts a moment from the aftermath of the wreck of
the French naval frigate Méduse, which ran aground off the coast of today's
Mauritania on July 5, 1816. At least 147 people were set adrift on a hurriedly
constructed raft; all but 15 died in the 13 days before their rescue, and those
who survived endured starvation and dehydration and practiced cannibalism. The
event became an international scandal, in part because its cause was widely
attributed to the incompetence of the French captain perceived to be acting
under the authority of the recently restored French monarchy. In reality, King
Louis XVIII had no say in the captain's appointment, since monarchs were not
directly involved in appointments made to vessels like a naval frigate. The
appointment of the vicomte de Chaumareys as captain of the Méduse would have
been a routine naval appointment, made within the Ministry of the Navy.
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