Raft of the Medusa Essay

Although the untrained observer may see The Raft Of The Medusa by Jean-Louis-Theodore Gericault and The Nightmare by John Henry Fuseli as belonging to the same artistic group for their dark color palette and scary, somewhat “gothic” imagery, they’re from two artistic movements that are actually very different; the Neoclassical Era (1750-1860) and the Romantic Era (1800-1880). The Raft Of The Medusa is very unique for a Neoclassical painting in that it portrays a then-contemporary event (and not a very noble one, to boot) rather than the era’s usual heroic ancient subject matter but, if you look very carefully, the Neoclassical elements are still there in full force. For example, while you’d expect the survivors of a shipwreck to be emaciated, probably diseased etc., Gericault portrays the survivors in the painting with more idealized, strong, healthy bodies which, while incongruous with the situation at hand as I said before, fits perfectly within Neoclassical ideals because it reflects the Classical tradition of always presenting the idealized human form, no matter what the situation. There is also a homage to Dante in the fact that the positions of a group of figures on the raft are meant to mirror those in a depiction of Count Ugolino and his sons. Also, Neoclassical paintings featured a heavy use of chiaroscuro (contrast between light and shadow for dramatic effect) and The Raft Of The Medusa has that in spades with the sunlight just barely peeking out behind the cloud

The article, “Gericult’s Severed Heads and Limbs: The Politics and Aesthetics of the Scaffold”, by Nina Athanassoglou-Kallmyer reasons that the purpose of Theodore Gericault’s paintings of severed limbs and decapitated heads was his way of criticizing 19th century policies about capital punishment.

"The Boat" by Alistair MacLeod is the story told from the perspective of university teacher looking back on his life. The narrator relates the first memories of his life until his father's death. The story focuses on the conflicting relation between the mother and the father, and their different perspectives on how their children should lead their lives. MacLeod uses features of setting to present the tension between tradition and freedom.

Medusa means "sovereign female wisdom." In Sanskrit it's Medha. Medusa was originally a Libyan Goddess, worshiped by The Amazons as their Serpent-Goddess. She was considered the destroyer aspect of the Great Triple Goddess also called Neith, Anath, Athene or Ath-enna in North Africa and Athana in 1400. BC Minoan Crete. She can also be connected to Africa where she had a hidden, dangerous face, and her hair was represented as resembling dread locks. Libyan Amazons believed that no one could possibly lift her veil, and that to look upon her face was to glimpse one's own death as she saw yours.

The disembarkation at Marseilles takes an ordinary task of disembarking a ship and turns it into a visual masterpiece that moves the eye all over the scene with wonder and amazement. This painting was commissioned by the Marie de’ Medici to promote her divine right to be the queen of France. As Marie disembarks the ship she is not just greeted by a few members of French royalty she is greeted by many royals and even the gods have come to greet Marie. She surrounded by very elegantly dressed ladies and is greeted by the personification of France. This personification of France is draped in a blue cape bedecked with the fleur-de-Lis, which is a French symbol for royalty. There are many references to mythology in this piece. Fortuna can be seen holding the rudder of the ship.

I believe that there are a number of “points” the Greeks wished to make, or that we can now interpret with our worldview. If we focus on Medusa we can see her portrayed as all things feminine, a woman whose beauty could rival that of Athena, best exemplified when Poseidon is smitten with and then rapes her in Athena’s temple, which suggests a power that Medusa is born into and as such is so innate as to be a challenge to the gods themselves. Medusa is changed into the Gorgon thus we can see that she now has power of, not only, life and death but also the power to control men. This is best exemplified by her ability to change men into stone, which is symbolic of the “sacred feminine” and the ability to castrate a man, or make him impotent, with only a glance. This ability, and its metaphorical maleficence, is what cause the men of Greece to rise against her and attempt to control her. Whilst all fail, Perseus is able to regain his masculinity for himself and all of Greece’s men and in so doing allows the children of Poseidon to be born out of death.

The painting A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte by Georges Seurat may seem simple but is very complex and symbolic. The girl in the center of the painting is the only character looking directly at the viewer. Almost as if Seurat painted her to be communicating something to the audience. What that is can be found by looking at the time of which it was painted and the meaning and work behind the painting along with its relational paintings. The elements in the painting, especially shade and color, reveal this underlying meaning and message.

1.How did Gericault talk about particular conditions of human life in his art work? Gericault was Romantic artist who painted scenes of suffering. Typically, the suffering was connected to war. Nonetheless his painting displayed a sense of insanity regarding war. These paintings were caught in the public’s eye giving them a visual of what occurs during battle. In addition, Gericault work was influencing regarding suffering of human life.

Medusa used to be a beautiful, golden haired, mortal. She vowed to stay celibate for an eternity, but broke her vows when she met Poseidon. As punishment, her hair was turned into snakes, and her skin was turned a greenish tint. Feeling obligated to marry Medusa for causing her to be disfigured, he married her, and built a gorgeous castle for them both under the sea. Poseidon, not actually loving Medusa, had an affair with Amphitrite who gave him Bessie a multi-headed cow-demon. Despite not knowing of the affair, Medusa was furiated that another woman had the audacity to give him a gift. Medusa who was indignant, fled to Africa to for a break. Poseidon loved his gift from Amphitrite because Medusa had never given him anything because of her

Medusa is best known for having hair made of snakes and the ability to turn anyone she looked at to stone, in terms to petrify, and mythologies continue to evolve around Medusa’s ancient and modern significance. At the Metropolitan Museum of Art on Fifth Avenue, New York viewers can explore, connect, and analyze the vibrant pieces of Dangerous Beauty: Medusa in Classic Art by venturing into the Greek and Roman section on floor 1M and be prepared to view gallery 172 with an open mind. The gallery organizer Kiki Karoglou created the exhibition to allow the viewers to examine a wide range of works from various artists and time periods. There were a few pieces that were made by Domenico Marchetti, Gianni Maria Versace, Antonio Canova, and many of the works were loaned by private lenders. The art of Head of Medusa, maker Studio of Antonio Canova (Italian, Possagno 1757-1822 Venice) and Terracotta two-handled vase (late 4th-early 3rd century B.C.) from Early

The statue of Perseus with the head of Medusa was constructed from 1545 to 1554 and is similar to other works of art created in the 1500s. It belongs to the Mannerist period. Unlike, the Renaissance period, Mannerism focused on style and how people desired to look. Mannerist works typically looked artificial and exaggerated. This is visible in the statue of Perseus and Medusa because Perseus’ muscle definition is very intense, and the way he’s standing on Medusa’s body looks slightly awkward. This statue looks very similar compared to the many other elaborate statues of the time.

Solitude is greatly expressed throughout the Raft of the Medusa and is exemplifying Burke’s sublime to perfection. Surrounded by death and the open sea, solitude could not have been more pronounced. With the only chance of survival miles away on the horizon, the men are stranded. No one and nothing is around to save them. The compositional spacing in the painting also connects the painting to the solitude that Burke describes in his sublime. Grouping the stranded men together in the bottom left of the painting while a distant ship is barely seen along the horizon in the upper right exemplifies the impending doom and distress approaching the isolated men. This example of solitude relates to Burke’s solitude rather than Kant’s because Burke’s

The air was thick with the putrid scent of flowers, spring water, and...what Medusa could only describe as purity. It was a hard place to find for a being such as her, but not impossible. She wouldn't have come here on a subconscious level considering that she was Goddess of Darkness...or rather formerly so. She had been stripped of most of her power, plopped down to the mortal world and left to rot. Palutena thought she had everything figured out, maybe she did, but Medusa would rather be destroyed once again rather than just surrender her life living as the shadow of her former self. No, she wouldn't just roll over and Palutena would be a fool for thinking she would.

Through Medusa, Harriet started to investigate the subjects of female power and female exploitation that would show up all through her profession and works. Her thoughtful depiction of Medusa evaluates routes in which ladies were rebuffed and judged for any sexual conduct regardless of the possibility that it was her result or of some other individual on her. Harriet noticed this aloofness in legendary subject as well as in a considerable lot of her female counterparts like Medusa. With this going further, the artist became dynamic in women’s rights development, now she kept up that in extent to the couple of ladies who prefered battling their own specific manner through the world. She frequently made the ladies figures manly. By denoting these

I think that the Ship of Theseus is an interesting idea. Every summer since 2002, my family has gone to Hale Reservation. About ten years ago, I began to take sailing lessons there, and I continued to take them until I started working there two years ago. Then, I started teaching some of the lessons. During my time at Hale, many of the parts of the sailboats have changed. They are constantly switched between the different boats. All of the sailboats are very old, and the parts break frequently, or sometimes they are just lost. I remember about five years ago, one of the ropes fell off and sank. This is just one of the many parts that has needed to be replaced. I never realized how frequently the pieces broke, until I had to figure out what they needed to buy so the boats would work. Although the parts of the boat themselves are always different, I still feel that they are still the same as when I started taking sailing lessons there.