Allie
Haught
April
15, 2014
Professor
Bomboy
HUM
101
Marxism in “The Raft of the
“Medusa””
Narrative paintings are an especially
interesting form of art because of their depth. “The Raft of the “Medusa”” that
was painted in 1818 by Theodore Gericault is a narrative painting that is not
only interesting but truly fascinating for a variety of reasons. Gericault’s
use of the elements of art and the principles of design are expertly executed,
and they enhance the artwork and give the viewer the full experience of the
story behind it. The interpretation of the painting should be and is directly
linked to a real-life story that inspired the artist to forever capture it on
his canvas. It evokes some very strong feelings within me, which means that
Gericault did an excellent job of impacting his audience. “The Raft of the “Medusa””
has all of these elements while also reminding the viewer of an underlying
theme; power. The piece is an excellent work of art to begin with because of
its execution.
“The Raft of the “Medusa”” shows a
group of men that appear to be stranded on a raft in the middle of the ocean. The
men are in a pile. Most are alive, but there are some dead bodies in the mix. The
elements of art and the principles of design were used effectively in this
piece to improve the work. Lines are definitive to show the different pieces of
the artwork, but they are also soft to show the natural elements like human skin,
the water, and the sky. The shapes are very organic. They help to portray the
painting as more realistic and easy to connect with. Most of the shapes are somewhat
rounded, except for the wooden raft that has rectangular pieces. Most of the
color is dark to portray a somber mood. The colors of nature, like parts of the
sky and the ocean, are lighter at some parts than that of the somewhat same
color of the men. The texture is realistic. The texture of the human skin
differs from that of the hard wood and the soft water and sky. There is a very
rich use of value in this painting. There are “vivid contrasts of light and
dark” to make the mood even more dramatic (Fiero 52). Form is used to give the
painting a three-dimensional effect. The men on the raft are in the foreground,
but it is apparent that there is a vast sea behind them. What is left to the imagination
is how massive the sea must be. This helps to enforce the idea of power; that
nature is way more powerful than man. Space is used very cleverly in this
painting. All of the action is in the middle, but the open water behind the men
gives the painting depth. Attention is brought to this fact by the men who are
reaching outwards towards the open sea. They appear to be searching and begging
for a safe haven. Space is used further by the triangles that appear in the
raft and in the stack of men and also by the “sharp diagonals” that appear
throughout the piece (Fiero 52). Contrast is found in various ways. There is
contrast in the shapes that separate the definitive foreground from the open
and soft, somewhat imagined background. There is also contrast in the light and
dark colors of the painting. It helps to let the audience know that man and
nature are definitely not the same. The emphasis or focal point is on the men
on the raft. There is so much action going on here. There are men reaching outwards,
men who are sitting somberly, and also bodies of the dead. This is where the story
truly takes place. The rhythm of the painting moves the viewer from organic
shape to organic shape. The first thing that “catches the eye” are the men on
the raft, but each man seems to have his own character and shape. There are the
men who are active and hopeful at the top of the pile, which also symbolizes
power in the sense of “pack leaders.” There are men who appear to have “given
up” and accepted what they believe is their inevitable fate. Finally, there are
deceased bodies which also remind the viewer of power because they were the
weaker ones who did not survive. Proportion is used to portray how massive
nature is when compared to man. The immense ocean would seem to swallow the men
on the raft if more of the background was shown. All of the men are
proportionate which helps to make the painting more realistic and relatable. There
is a repetition in the texture and shapes of the painting, and this leads to a
unity of the artwork. The people all seem to be united in the big mass. They
are stranded together in that ocean. Overall, it is a very believable scene. The
elements and principles all work together to enhance the painting a great deal.
The dark colors, definitive lines, value, and contrast helps to create a somber
mood. The texture, organic shapes, and proportion helps to make the painting true
to life. The form, space, and emphasis helps to portray the sense of power that
is a theme in the piece. The repetition and unity keeps the viewer enthralled
in the story and depth of the painting. These elements and principles accurately
helped Gericault record the true story that is depicted in the painting.
The meaning of the painting was
clear, but there is actually a true story behind it. At first glance, I did
understand that the artist was showing men stranded on a raft in the ocean. I
also believed that the artist was trying the make the work very dramatic and somber
by his choice of colors and detailed expressions on the men’s faces. This
scenario leaves a lot of questions to be answered, but the answers can be found
by researching the story behind this painting. His true motivation for creating
it was because he wanted to “immortalize it [this tragic event] in paint”
(Fiero 51). Gericault lived before the time of cameras, so artwork was one of
the only ways to show current events (Fiero 51). “The Raft of the “Medusa”” is
based on the story of a ship that wrecked off of the coast of West Africa
(Fiero 51). The crew and some of the passengers survived, but the crew took almost
all of the food and the supplies and set the passengers loose away from their
lifeboats (Fiero 51). Most of the passengers died, and, after almost two weeks,
some of them had resorted to cannibalism (Fiero 51). Finally, the raft was
spotted, and fifteen men were rescued (Fiero 51). Gericault was outraged by
this story, and he wanted to portray it very seriously (Fiero 51). He even went
as far as to interview the survivors and sketch the corpses that were on the
rafts after studying them in the morgue (Fiero 51). I believed that Gericault
successfully represented the story in this painting. The strained and desperate,
or, in some cases, hopeless, expressions of the men shows the anxiety of the
serious situation. It is clear that Gericault used accurate human anatomy to have
realism in the painting. I like how he did not go over the top and make the
painting too dramatic by making it gory. He left the bodies in tact and
recognizable as humans. He also successfully represented power. The men at the
top who are aggressively reaching out for rescue appear to be the powerful
leaders, while the men at the bottom, specifically the man who has appeared to
have “given up” and the ones who have already died, are the weakest. Not only
is power shown in the pile of men, but it is also shown in the big picture.
Nature is the biggest element in the painting. The men are stranded because of
nature’s power. This is yet another depiction in art about how nature is always
stronger than man. The men are at the mercy of the ocean. Those added ideas work
well with the gloomy mood of the story that the artist was trying to depict.
The painting aroused these feelings in me, specifically, as well.
When I first looked at the painting,
I thought that the mood was supposed to be very depressing. I get a hopeless
feeling from some of the men, while I very much pity all of them. I get a
feeling of desperation, as well. I cannot imagine what it would be like to be
stranded on a raft with dead bodies, starving and in despair. This painting also
makes me feel very scared to think about how powerful nature truly is. Man is
nothing in the face of the natural world. This feeling, called sublime, was
precisely what Gericault was trying to accomplish (Fiero 52). I believe that he
did an excellent job of illustrating these ideas.
“The Raft of the “Medusa”” by
Theodore Gericault is a very well executed narrative painting that successfully
tells a heart-wrenching story. The painting’s elements and principles of art
add to the narration and themes (specifically power). They all play very well
together to enhance the work. Gericault chose a specific story as the
motivation behind it, and he definitely depicted the scene accurately. The
painting evoked feelings within me that are hard to forget because of the emotional
impact and seriousness of the situation. Theodore Gericault should be
considered the reporter of his time by preserving this event in history forever
through his artwork.
Works Cited
Fiero,
Gloria K. The Humanistic Tradition. 6th ed. Vol. 5. New York, NY:
McGraw-Hill, 2011. Print.
"Theodore
Gericault." Artsy.net. Artsy.net, 2014. Web. 16 Apr. 2014.
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