Analysis of a Narrative in a Painting: Raft of Medusa
by Théodore Géricault
by Lillian Bonar
Essay: Analysis of a Narrative in a Painting: Raft of Medusa by Théodore Géricault
Pages: 11
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Choose one narrative work (any medium) and discuss the storytelling techniques employed by the artist and how
effective these were in communicating the narrative
Narrative art is the term given to artworks that conveys a story. In narrative art, “the artist chooses how to portray
the story, represent the space, and how to shape time within the artwork.” There are different types of narrative
arts such as monoscenic narrative, simultaneous narrative, continuous narrative, to name a few. A monoscenic
narrative artwork refers to an entire narrative is represented with only one single scene. Raft of medusa is a very
good example of a monoscenic narrative painting.
Figure1: The Raft of the Medusa, Théodore Géricault, 1818-1819,
oil on canvas, 491 cm × 716 cm
To give a brief background of Raft of medusa, the French Romantic painter and lithographer Théodore Géricault
did this painting in 1816. Théodore Géricault was one of the pioneers of the French Romantic movement. The
narrative of the Raft of Medusa is about the incident of the French frigate Medusa that ran aground off the coast
of Mauritania. Only 147 passengers and crew had managed to get on a lifeboat that later on led them to 13 days
of terrible hardship. Among the 147, only 15 have luckily survived from that incident and those who managed to
survive had been through starvation, dehydration and were forced to practice cannibalism. “The painting asks
profound questions about the nature of survival, barbarism, and the miracle of human resilience in the face of the
awesome and unforgiving power of nature, as well as the inner-struggle for meaning and purpose we all face.”
In this painting, different layers of narrative can be seen. Therefore, there is a need for us to dist...
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