The departure from classicism, where everything has been verified to the smallest detail, to the new romanticism created in free France, both in prose, and in poetry, and in painting, is characteristic of a young artist who is closely defined in a clear framework. That's why Gericault will write “The Raft of the Medusa.”
Theodore Gericault's life
The artist was born in Rouen in 1791. His family was wealthy, but the child was early sent to a boarding school where he studied. His passion for painting horses led him to a teacher, Claude Verne, and then to Pierre Guerin. But the real teachers for him were J. L. David and J. A. Gro. He grew up at a time when France was full of hope, when sincere patriotic and then dramatic feelings overwhelmed the people. No one will say that the years from the French Revolution to the establishment of Napoleon’s empire and defeat in his war with Russia were serene. All these moods, strong passions that worried the whole country were absorbed by young Theodore, who would later embody them in his canvases.
The most vivid and alarming that Gericault will write is “The Raft of the Medusa.” He will create the first canvas in 1812, of course there will be a horse. But, despite the Gold Medal received for this work, the government did not buy it. However, the young artist is not discouraged, writes and writes his favorite
horses. Gericault’s
painting “The Raft of the Medusa” will be created in a few years.
Romanticism
The style was fully formed when Gericault was no longer alive, in the mid-50s of the 19th century. Romanticism was fully oriented to the present. What is the essence of a romantic worldview? Firstly, the concept of freedom is being formed, which can be discussed for a long time, and a fundamental violation of all the rules, including at the level of aesthetics. Romantic aesthetics affirms the sublime category, which is inseparable from the notions of the mysterious and terrible (“The Raft of the Medusa,” Theodore Gericault). Philosopher Edmund Burg argued that the category of the majestic is bound to fear. Another philosopher emphasized that if some kind of energy is preserved in the souls of people, then only a new misfortune can lead them out of lethargy. Theodore Gericault instinctively approached the development of this new aesthetics in his painting “The Raft of the Medusa”.
Tragedy
The plot of the picture is based on real tragedy. Off the coast of Senegal, the Medusa wrecked three-masted ship crashes after landing on a sandbank. It happened in 1816. It seemed that nothing special should happen: the ship’s boats would make two voyages and take out all the passengers. In addition, it was decided to build a raft with an area of ​​140 square meters. m. But the unexpected happened: the wind intensified, and the frigate cracked. Everyone was in a panic. The captain ordered everyone to leave the ship. But 17 people remained on the ship, and one hundred and forty-seven people moved to the raft. He should have been towed by boats. But the weather was not favorable, they were waiting for the storm. The raft was heavily overloaded, he could not move independently, there were no food and water on it. The people in the boats were afraid that those on the raft would begin to switch to the boats and cut off the ropes connecting the raft with them. Everyone who was on the boats escaped. And on the raft, the situation became terrible. A group of officers and passengers and a group of sailors and soldiers formed. On the very first night, twenty people died. And when the storm began, distraught people fought to be in the center of the raft. Theodore Gericault's painting “The Raft of the Jellyfish” shows this moment. On the fourth day, less than half the people remained, and the rest began to eat human meat. They had no products. Four days later, the fifteen strongest people threw everyone else into the sea. When this news reached the public, it was shocked by the nightmare of what had happened. This immoral incident caused the analysis of the behavior of the captain, who, having saved himself, did not want or could not help the wrecked.
Preliminary work
Gericault’s huge painting “The Raft of the Medusa,” written in 1818–1819, depicts people in different positions and in different mental states.
A large number of sketches and sketches were made: the stormy sea, people in various positions, sitting, lying, standing.
The bodies of patients from hospitals and from the morgue were also used for work as a nature.
Gericault finds the carpenter who made the raft, and orders him a small copy, sculpts the characters from the wax, which will be depicted in the picture, placing them on the raft.
So began work on Geriko's painting "The Raft of the" Jellyfish "." The description of contemporaries says that he even shaved his head so as not to go anywhere and not break away from work.
Canvas Gericault
In order for all the characters of the picture and the full view of the sea to be visible, the painter took an angle that allows you to make the whole view from above.
People on the canvas just noticed the ship and behave differently. This is required by Gericault to convey all the emotions that possessed distraught people. Someone gives a signal, someone lies half dead in prostration, someone stupefied from hopelessness and does not react to anything, someone tries to bring a dying person to his senses and keeps him from falling from the raft. In Jericho’s painting “The Raft of the Medusa” there is no static, it is dynamic. Foreground depicts people trying to bring the dying to life. On the second - those who believe in salvation and give signals. Compositionally, these are several triangular figures that give the viewer a sense of desire to fight and win.
But the wind carries the raft from the ship of salvation. And is it visible? The color of the picture is dark and dark at the bottom of the canvas, but towards the horizon it brightens, filling the souls with hope. The raft itself almost rests on the frame of the picture. He makes the watchers almost participants in the ongoing tragedy. Low dark clouds reinforce the tragedy of the situation. And huge ocean waves are ready to wash people off the raft. Alternately, either hope or despair take possession of the people who have filled the raft of Medusa. Gericault (description of the picture) becomes close and understandable to everyone who peers into the canvas created by the classical technical methods of work, but filled with romantic aesthetics.
Early death
Theodore Gericault died at the age of 33, falling on a walk from a horse and receiving an injury incompatible with life.
Only after his death was the innovation of the painting appreciated, and it was categorized as romanticism.