Interpreting Emotions in 'The Raft of the Medusa'

One of the most powerful works of art known to man is Raft of the Medusa by Theodore Géricault. The piece was made around 1818-1819 and its medium is oil on canvas. The subjects of this specific work of art are the people on the raft. They are the people who had either survived, or perished in a wreck while on the stormy ocean. Some of the men on the raft seem to be hopeful that they will survive, while others mourn the death of those lost in the wreckage. The ones who seem to be hopeful appear to be waving down a boat in the horizon, while most do not seem to notice the boat. The Raft of the Medusa is an extraordinarily complex work of art. The purpose of this painting is to capture the raw emotion of people in unfortunate situations, and to show the hopeful and the despaired. Theodore Géricault does this through his uses of dark and bright colors that contributes to the feelings of mournfulness and hope. While the stormy waves add to the hectic and desperate feel of the piece and captures the brutality of nature. What stands out in Raft of the Medusa is the man at the end of raft. He is using garments of clothing to wave down the boat in the distance. While he is not the tallest figure in the piece, he is standing in front of the horizon, the brightest part, making him the focal point. He is the symbol

The center of the painting contains a pyramid-like shape. There are the bodies of the dead at the bottom that slowly lead up to the hopeful living. This pyramid is representing the rise from death to hope. Because of this, two intense moods are established throughout the work of art; hope and despair. Even though there are two prominent moods of the piece, the interpretation of the piece can be described as hopeful. Despite the bodies of the dead shown in the painting, the energy of the hopeful overpowers the death. Their will to live outshines the desperate feelings given off from the bodies and the