Gericault's Prelims for 'Raft of the Medusa'

 

Gericault's famous painting Raft of the Medusa is a complex composition, with a lot of figures in dramatic poses. How did he get there?

His early sketches show the seed of the idea, with the figures in the group going in and out of shadow. 

Another sketch shows the stricken mariner's making a more direct appeal to the rescuers.

Jean Louis Théodore Géricault (1791–1824), Study for The Raft of the Medusa (1819), 

oil on canvas, 36 x 48 cm, Musée du Louvre, Paris. 

As he brought the idea along to a painted sketch stage he worked out some of the key figures, such as the man caring for the dead or dying figure in the lower left.

Each figure needed careful study from models, and the ensemble had to work as a whole and parts.

Finally, this drawing appears to be a record of the finished painting, made after the fact.

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Read more online about the story the painting illustrates and how he developed the composition.