Louvre
Spent most of my time with the o’ jerry co’s Raft of the Medusa.
impeccable rhythm and movement through the painting, directed by the contorted figures and carried by the arms towards the flag
composition based on intersecting triangles, peaked by the mast and flag, and based in the diagonal braces of the raft
three groups of figures, compositionally interdependent through clearly demarcated within the painting: abject father and son; those reaching upwards to the flag; and those in shadow
eerie pallor of the decaying flesh particularly evident in the contrast between the father and son’s skin tones
hand and forearm of a front-left figure has become slightly visible as the painting has aged // the change opens up that corner nicely, as though the dead/dying son could just slip away
top-most figure is so precariously perched, tip-toed and supported by the others > telling, perhaps, of the false hope captured within the moment (particularly when you notice the mountainous swells surrounding)
David’s Death of Marat
I prefer the French title: Marat assassiné
from the wall text: “On 13 July 1793, the republican journalist Marat was assassinated in his bath by the royalist Charlotte Corday. Here, the heroic nudity stands out against a neutral background. The victims, with idealised features is portrayed as a martyr of the Revolution, in the style of Christian saints.”
this is kinda dumb, but I can’t stop thinking of this Vincent Vega’s death scene in Pulp Fiction