Ordinary Magic Glass
The expression "Venetian glass" has become a household word. It is used in the appreciation of the artistic merit of glass. And it is not by chance that the largest…

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Diego Rivera - the great Mexican painter
When the Great October Socialist Revolution took place in Russia, a revolutionary struggle was going on in Mexico for seven years. Armed peasants opposed the dictatorship of the rich and…

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Ernest Seton-Thompson - writer, artist, naturalist
Eighty-six years of life - a considerable time. Exactly so many wonderful Canadian writer, artist, naturalist Ernest Seton-Thompson lived. But who was he in the first place? A rare case…

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How did the masters of the Italian Renaissance study
Verrocchio, Mantegna, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo. The greatest geniuses. What bright individuals and how much they differ from each other! What unites the unsurpassed masters of the time, which is…

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"The Conspiracy of Claudius Civilis" by Rembrandt
A prominent place in Rembrandt’s painting is taken by the painting “The Claudius Civilis Conspiracy”, created in 1661. This creation was destined to play a very special role in all…

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“Raft” Medusa “” Theodore Gericault

The artist Theodore Gericault, the founder of romanticism in France, became famous for a number of works, and especially the painting “The Jellyfish Raft”. She became no less well-known than Rembrandt’s Night Watch, The Oath of the Horatii of David, and Boyary Morozov of Surikov. The artist masterfully expressed in her deep thoughts about the fate of people, by force of circumstances set on the verge of death, could say weighty words about modernity. That is why the historian of the middle of the last century, Jules Michelet, recalling the picture, said the right words: “I said and repeat again: at that moment Gericault was France.”

In November 1817, shortly after the return of Gericault from Italy, the book The Death of the Medusa Frigate was published in Paris. Its authors narrated the tragic accident in the ocean. An expedition of four ships was sent to Senegal, carrying soldiers, a new governor of the colony, and officials with their families. During the storm, escort ships lagged behind the frigate, and the Medusa stranded off the west coast of Africa and sank. To save the crew, a raft was built, which was towed by boats to the coast, which was relatively close. However, the crew of the boats, which housed the highest authorities, frightened the storm and cut the tow ropes. A raft with 150 sailors and soldiers was thrown into the open ocean. Thirteen days he wore among the waves, no more than ten people survived. Many died of exhaustion, others were washed away by the waves, some died in the battle for leftover food or went crazy. Responsibility for the tragedy fell on the commander of the expedition, who received this appointment under the patronage of the king.

The catastrophe off the coast of Africa has attracted wide public attention not only the fatal consequences of what happened. The opposition blamed the political regime of the Restoration after the fall of Napoleon’s empire. The conclusion was clear: the Bourbon government patronized the aristocrats, disregarding the interests of the nation. The history of the death of the frigate “Medusa” could not but worry Gericault. His belief in human dignity was offended, and hatred of the existing regime received another confirmation.

We should not think that Gericault wanted only to translate the contents of the book into the language of painting. With all that he knew her almost by heart, she served only as an impulse for a great independent work. Zheriko began to look for meetings with the participants of the event, who survived. This was the way the artist developed a special method: recreating the event. Using the power of imagination, re-reading the documents, talking to witnesses, the artist gradually created his own model of the situation, bringing it as close as possible to reality.

Jericho met with the authors of the book “The Death of the Medusa Frigate”. A carpenter from Medusa, at his request, performed a reduced copy of the raft. The artist made wax figures of people and arranged them as if they were real characters of the tragedy. He goes to the seashore to write several sketches with waves and a stormy sky. Finally he visits the hospital morgues of Paris, paints and paints the bodies of the dead, talks with the doctors, learning about the consequences of deprivation and their effect on the human body. All this took the artist to be truthful in the transfer of the tragic event.

Over one hundred studies relate to the preparatory period for the creation of the painting “The Raft” Medusa “.” Here and runaway sketches with a pen, and elaborately built gouaches, and Picturesque sketches, and several sculptural groups. Initially, Zheriko was overwhelmed with various ideas, and through many trials he came to a final decision. The artist was least attracted by the image of the scene of salvation, because the meaning of the tragedy would remain unclear with such a decision.

Of great importance was the work on the scenes of the battle on the raft. Perhaps there was a moment when the artist believed that this particular plot would be final. Géricault shows a half-sunken raft amid raging waves, athletically folded people fight for the best place near the mast with a sail, for drinking water, food. Axes, sabers flash, some fall into the water, you can see a group of people who are either completely desperate, or begging for heaven. But all this does not mean a sad outcome, and therefore the painter refuses this decision.

He is fascinated by the new theme: waiting for the saving ship by those who survived. So composite searches came to the end. One moment is highlighted in the tragic story, when it is still unclear, vague. Piles of corpses, scenes of agony, crazy faces, timid hope. As if a miracle arose on the horizon, the silhouette of the ship-savior, and the magical power made several people jump up, who have the mind and the will. But it is difficult to say whether the ship will notice these unfortunates.

Wooden sculpture of Prikamye
The discovery of this “completely unprecedented and absolutely amazing phenomenon” - the original folk art of the Kama region - belongs to N. N. Serebrennikov, an Ural art historian, collector…

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Antoine Bourdelle and Aristide Maillol - antiquity in the works
Antoine Bourdelle and Aristide Mayol. What binds them? That they were born in the same year - 1861st? That both are French? Or that they are outstanding sculptors and are…

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Luca della Robbia - devotional service to art
The whole long life of Luke della Robbia was dedicated to serving the arts. The sculptor was born in Florence in 1399 or 1400. He made many works that rightfully…

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