In the second decade of the 19th century, the government of a certain European country sent several ships to take control of a port in a distant land. When disaster occurred, many individuals were abandoned and died as a result. The accounts and inquiries inspired one of the world's great works of art. What was this incident, and can you provide an illustration of the painting?

TabbyTom

The Medusa was sent in 1816 by the French government to take control of Saint Louis in Senegal. When she foundered off the African coast, there were not enough lifeboats to go round, and some 150 passengers were put on a raft to be towed by the lifeboats, but the raft was soon cut adrift. About two weeks later, fifteen survivors were picked up, telling tales of murder, suicide and cannibalism. The incident inspired Théodore G ricault to paint “The Raft of the Medusa.” http://cgfa.sunsite.dk/gericaul/p-gericau7.htm Sep 07 05, 4:59 PM

lanfranco

Excellent, TT. Eugene Delacroix was among the friends of Gericault who modeled for this painting, completed in 1819 and now hanging in the Louvre. http://www.answers.com/topic/the-raft-of-the-medusa Sep 07 05, 5:12 PM

Arpeggionist

And I thought there was some connection to Turner's "The Slave Ship". Sep 08 05, 12:10 AM

lanfranco

Not a bad guess, Arpeggionist -- though Turner's painting of 1840 did not so much illustrate a specific event as express general outrage concerning certain practices of slavers. (Slavery had been recently abolished in British dominions, after much debate.) However, there was a late 18th-century incident that Turner might have read about and used as inspiration -- when slaves suffering from an epidemic were ordered thrown overboard by a captain for reasons of insurance money, which would not have been paid for "natural death" from disease. Sep 08 05, 8:54 AM