It was at the 1819 Paris Salon that Théodore Géricault first exhibited The Raft of the Medusa to the public. Put into today’s context, it went viral – word spread instantly, much like a titillating story on the internet. As Géricault knew, once the painting appeared on the walls at the Académie, it would be stirringly controversial. He saw it as the perfect opportunity to launch both a political storm, and his career.
The Raft of the Medusa was certainly more than a painting of the aftermath of a shipwreck. It was immediately viewed as a social and political protest, a direct poke at the French government. It was the first sign of Géricault’s growing obsession with the ideas of life and death....
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