Many famous paintings became famous because they were scandalous. This is the case of Le Radeau de la Méduse by Théodore Géricault. The young painter, aged 27 years old, painted about the wreck of the Medusa near the cost of today’s Mauritania. 147 persons were left on a big raft on which most of them died. Only 15 people survived the 13 days before their rescue. 

The wreck happened in 1816 and it was scandalous because the French captain was incompetent. 

Géricault gets passionate about the subject; He meets two survivors, study dead bodies in the hospital, study how to paint to sea, etc. 

The painting was first shown at the Salon in 1819, only 3 years after the wreck of the Medusa. The Salon is the official art exhibition at that time.  My friend Anne-Laure will tell you how the painting had been received at that time. 

In the notes that come with the transcript, we will focus on the vocabulary and expressions that Anne-Laure uses to describe what people felt about the painting. 

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