A Brief History
On July 2, 1816, a French sailing ship, the Méduse, struck bottom off the coast of Mauritania, dooming the vessel.
Digging Deeper
A frigate repurposed as a transport, Méduse was abandoned, with about 250 people loading into the ship’s launches and 146 men and a single woman forced to climb aboard a makeshift raft, to be towed by the launches.
The crowded and starving people on the raft were cut loose to fend for themselves, resulting in 13 days of terror, with some survivors murdered, others washed or thrown overboard, and some eaten by their raft mates! Only 15 survived.
A painting depicting the horror of The Raft of the Medusa was painted by Théodore Géricault in 1818 to 1819, a haunting and horrible picture. Another creepy painting is:
The Garden of Earthly Delights by Hieronymus Bosch, 1510, the centerpiece of a triptych showing a surreal scene of naked people engaged in gluttony and amorous activity.
Question for students (and subscribers): What painting would you call the creepiest? Please let us know in the comments section below this article.
If you liked this article and would like to receive notification of new articles, please feel welcome to subscribe to History and Headlines by liking us on Facebook and becoming one of our patrons!
Your readership is much appreciated!
Historical Evidence
For more information, please see…
Fischer, Stefan. Hieronymus Bosch: The Complete Works. Taschen America, 2021.
McKee, Alexander. Wreck of the Medusa: The Tragic Story of the Death Raft. Berkley, 2000.
The featured image in this article, a 1974 postage stamp of Albania, is subject to use in the public domain in accordance to Article 12 of Copyright Law No.35/2016 § enacted in the Constitution of Albania which states that the following shall not be subject to copyright:
- (a) ideas, theories, concepts, discoveries and inventions in a creative work, regardless of the way they were received, explained or expressed;
- (b) inventions, legal, administrative and judicial acts, as well as other official creations and their collections, presented in order to inform the public;
- (c) official symbols of the state, of organizations and of public authorities, such as: arms, seals, flag, emblems, medallions, insignia, medals;
- (d) means of payment;
- (e) news and press information which have a simple nature of information;
- (f) simple data and facts;
You can also watch video versions of this article on YouTube.
