I recently saw an documentary called "La véritable histoire du 'radeau de la Méduse'" (the real history of the 'raft of the Medusa') (http://www.arte.tv/guide/fr/049878-000/la-veritable-histoire-du-radeau-de-la-meduse). The Raft of the Medusa is a painting of Théodore Géricault (more info here:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_frigate_M%C3%A9duse_(1810)). The painting is based on a real event: a stranded ship. There are survivors who had been found on a raft two weeks after the ship had been abandonned. The painting had been very controversial when it's inauguration. The documentary have a reconstitution of the raft.
The painter, Théodore Géricault, had put a lot of research and work into that painting. I know he invest much time with some survivors of the incident. He also experiement with paint colors. Doing so, he was trying to emulate the color of dead tissue. I think he also spent some time in insane assylum. More on Gericault here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Th%C3%A9odore_G%C3%A9ricault.
As for many artists, he died young. He also invested a lot of time in his work. He wasn't affraid to go to some unsettling place. I like artists like him. He was ready to go to great lenght to give a realistic result. He also made a piece of art that was unexpected at the time. He was following his own path, it is what I admire in him. For his painting of the 'Raft of the Medusa', we was not affraid to take a maritime tragedy and turn it in a big painting, strong with emotions. It is what I call a powerful art piece. It trigger something viceral, stir the darkness and it is there to stay exposed.
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