On July 5, 1816, the raft of La Méduse, about 20 by 12 meters, began its slow drift. They left at 151 and 13 days later, after a hellish journey, arrived at 15... Who knows the true story of Le Radeau de La Méduse? Painted in 1819, Théodore Géricault's romantic masterpiece became so famous that it has since overshadowed the true story that inspired it. In June 1816, during the Restoration under Louix XVIII, a French ship, the Méduse, left the port of Rochefort bound for Senegal. Its crew, made up of the new governor Schamaltz, company officials, troops and the expeditionary corps, had to settle in this former colony restored to France by England. In all, some 400 passengers. But due to the unpredictable cartography of the time and the short-sightedness of its commander, La Méduse ran aground on a sandbank off the coast of Mauritania.
as Théodore Géricault, le peintre (1791-1824)
as Jean-Baptiste Savigny
as Alexandre Corréard
as Touche-Lavilette
as Self - Historien et administrateur du Musée de la Marine, Rochefort
as Self - Historienne de l'Histoire maritime du XiXème, CNRS
as Self - Dr. en histoire de l'art, auteur d'ouvrages sur Géricault
as Self - Musée national de la Marine-école de médecine, Rochefort
as Self - Conservateur en chef du patrimoine, Rochefort
as Self - Contre-Amiral Marine nationale et écrivain
as Self - Médecin psychiatre
as Self - Expert en survie maritime (USA)
