Travis Somerville Studio Visit 10-23-16

Glenn Hirsch and Pamela Lanza, Instructors

The Raft of the Medusa by Theodore Gericault is a 23-foot painting done in 1819. It depicts the wreck of the French naval frigate Meduse in which 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, dehydration and cannibalism. The event became an international scandal because its cause was attributed to the incompetence of the French government. Géricault interviewed two of the survivors and constructed a detailed scale model of the raft. The painting proved highly controversial. It represents a break from the calm and order of the prevailing Neoclassical school.

Géricault's work influenced Eugène Delacroix, J. M. W. Turner, Gustave Courbet, Édouard Manet and … Travis Somervillle.