raft of the medusa

Théodore Géricault, Raft of the Medusa, 1818-19. Louvre, Paris. Image via Wikimedia Commons

Théodore Géricault’s painting The Raft of the Medusa (1818-9) depicts the horrific aftermath of the shipwrecked Méduse. The event was a tabloid scandal. Of the 147 escapees, who were subject to starvation, dehydration and some even practised cannibalism, only 15 survived.

Preparing for this work, Géricault really committed 100%. He interviewed survivors, made a full-scale replica of the raft and – wait for it – borrowed limbs and other body parts from the Hospital Beaujnon to create studies of decomposition. He kept them in his apartment (to the horror of his neighbours) and the resulting studies comprise this strangely tender pile of body parts. Two legs embraced by an arm severed at the shoulder – fragments isolated from their whole.

Théodore Géricault, Study of Feet and Hands, 1818-19. Musée Fabre, Montpellier. Image via Wikimedia Commons

What’s more, this wasn’t even uncommon practice. Géricault was just taking advantage of programs that enabled students and artists to check-out human remains for anatomical study, “like a lending library of body parts”. [1] Honestly, where is my library card?

[1] Paul Koudounaris, Théodore Géricault’s Morgue-Based Preparatory Paintings for “Raft of the Medusa“, a guest post on Morbid Anatomy, 19 February 2012.