Creator story
Surprising fact
To paint The Raft of the Medusa, Géricault studied corpses and severed limbs in morgues to capture the colour of death truthfully.
Source: Wikipedia / WikimediaRomanticism
Théodore Géricault
Théodore Géricault (1791–1824) was a founder of French Romanticism, who brought raw drama and contemporary tragedy to monumental painting. His Raft of the Medusa turned a real shipwreck scandal into a colossal masterpiece.
Géricault's emotional power and modern subjects pointed the way for Delacroix and Romanticism, before his death at just 32.
- Painted The Raft of the Medusa, based on a real, scandalous shipwreck.
- Brought contemporary tragedy and raw emotion to grand painting.
- Died at only 32 after a riding accident, but reshaped Romanticism.
Key works
A key work by Théodore Géricault
These works make it easiest to see how the artist changed form, content, and the very way art could exist in culture.
1818
The Raft of the Medusa
The Raft of the Medusa – originally titled Scène de Naufrage – is an oil painting of 1818–1819 by the French Romantic painter and lithographer Théodore Géricault (1791–1824). Completed when the artist was 27, the work has become an icon of French Romanticism.