The most compelling painting in history
Theodore Géricault’s “The Raft of the Medusa”, 1819
Click the image to see it much larger.
Most compelling in history? Those are my words. There is monstrous magic in this huge argument in oil, in the public reaction to it, in the political ramifications, in the vast creative influence it had in its time, in the echoes that resonate to this day … and that’s all before you get to the chilling story behind it.
Prick a hole in the Internet and so much commentary about Theodore Géricault’s “The Raft of the Medusa” flows out that you find yourself afloat at sea as well. The words fly in all directions. One neocon has an elaborate thesis on the web that uses the artwork to scoff at enemies of economic globalisation. I think it deserves more respect. See the rest.
