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The Raft of the Medusa by French 19th-century painter Théodore Géricault, seen here surrounded by other Romantic works in the Louvre, Paris. This large-scale painting depicts a disaster at sea in 1816 where the French ship Méduse was wrecked and only a 15 people from on board survived on a makeshift raft. In this scene they see their rescue ship on the horizon, but are tragically surrounded by the ill and dying, illustrated with harsh realism which meant the painting was controversial when it was first seen.