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Even more sensational is the true story behind "The Raft of the Medusa".
The Medusa was a ship captained by an incompetent government official. It crashed on rocks and there weren't enough life boats. Many people crowded on this raft where they drifted for days (weeks?). There was murder and cannibalism as people fought to survive.
The moment that the artist, Gericault, chose to depict was the instant when they spotted the rescue ship in the distance (off to the right, on the horizon) which came to save the remaining survivors.
When this painting was first exhibited it indeed caused a sensation in society, as people railed against the government incompetence that had caused the disaster.
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