On "The Raft of Medusa"

When I first saw the painting from the slideshow in the classroom I was impressed. The focus is men ascending towards the back of the raft that eventually depicts a ship way off in the distance. They are waving white flags in hopes of rescue. From this I am reminded of the popular statue that displays the U.S. soldiers raising the American flag. When researching, I found out that it actually originated from a photograph by Joe Rosenthal titled "Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima". I believe the two have similar qualities. They both have a group of ascending men with their focal point being a flag that represents hope and freedom. On the raft, the flags represent hope and freedom for the men on the raft. They were stuck there and endured ungodly things and the flags are their way to signal the ship in the distance to rescue. The flag in the photograph more represents hope and freedom for our country in general. The soldiers from the picture may have been drafted (Vietnam) and not had been there on their own terms. However they still formed together to overcome hardships and raise the symbol of our country in inspiration. On the raft, I am sure none of the men wanted to be there. They themselves triumphed over hardships and had survived together, well that seems odd to say considering cannibalism was a factor. However, at the moment in the painting the able men must have been raising their flags as well in hope and freedom. Anyway, both the men from the raft and the picture would forever be bonded by this single act captured on canvas and photograph.

Also, another thing I found interesting was the background work that the artist, Theodore Gericault, put in. He interviewed one of the survivors and even viewed some of the deceased in morgues so that he could better capture the moment on canvas to tell their story. And tell their story he did for it influenced government policy change in acquiring qualified people for positions.



"The Raft of Medusa"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Raft_of_the_Medusa
"Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raising_the_Flag_on_Iwo_Jima