Glenn Hirsch, Instructor www.glennhirsch.com Pamela Lanza, Instructor www.pamelalanza.com

1. Travis Somerville Studio Visit
10-23-16
Glenn Hirsch and Pamela Lanza, Instructors

4. The Raft of the Medusa by Theodore
Gericault is a 23-foot painting done in
1819. It depicts the wreck of the
French naval frigate Meduse in which
147 people were set adrift on a
hurriedly constructed raft. All but 15
died in the 13 days before their
rescue, and those who survived
endured starvation, dehydration and
cannibalism. The event became an
international scandal because its
cause was attributed to the
incompetence of the French
government.
Géricault interviewed two of the
survivors and constructed a detailed
scale model of the raft. The painting
proved highly controversial. It
represents a break from the calm and
order of the prevailing Neoclassical
school.
Géricault's work influenced Eugène Delacroix, J. M. W. Turner,
Gustave Courbet, Édouard Manet and … Travis Somervillle.