The Raft of the Medusa

So, you’re looking at a feel-good beach scene this is not. This is what happens when the captain of a French naval frigate is appointed for political reasons rather than, you know, being able to sail. In 1816, the Méduse ran aground, and while the captain and his cronies took the lifeboats, 150 souls were crammed onto a makeshift raft and cut adrift. After 13 days of starvation, mutiny, and cannibalism, only 15 were left. The painting throws you right into the drama. The composition is a brilliant, chaotic jumble of bodies arranged into two triangular shapes. One pyramid is a heap of despair and death, featuring a father mourning his son and a few choice corpses about to slide into the sea. The other pyramid is all about a desperate, probably futile, surge of hope. Your eye is drawn up a diagonal line of writhing bodies to the man at the very top, waving frantically at a ship that’s just a speck on the horizon. Spoiler: historical accounts say the ship didn't see them the first time. This massive canvas was a huge political scandal painted in oils. It’s a not-so-subtle commentary on a corrupt and incompetent monarchy, using the suffering of common people on a grand scale usually reserved for heroic scenes. It’s less a history painting and more a national catastrophe laid bare, making it a deliciously grim and enduring piece of political art.