1 00:00:01,320 --> 00:00:04,240 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:14,000 Speaker 1: of iHeartRadio. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Holly 3 00:00:14,040 --> 00:00:18,959 Speaker 1: Frye and I'm Tracy V. Wilson. This is part two 4 00:00:19,000 --> 00:00:21,799 Speaker 1: of a two parter we have going on now. In 5 00:00:21,880 --> 00:00:24,960 Speaker 1: part one, we talked about the mission of the French 6 00:00:25,000 --> 00:00:27,760 Speaker 1: frigate La Medeus, which we have been calling by the 7 00:00:27,760 --> 00:00:32,080 Speaker 1: Anglicized name Medusa, and several other vessels to re establish 8 00:00:32,200 --> 00:00:35,720 Speaker 1: the French as the rulers of the European colony in Senegal, 9 00:00:36,159 --> 00:00:40,040 Speaker 1: and how that journey turned harrowing due to poor leadership 10 00:00:40,440 --> 00:00:43,840 Speaker 1: and desperate circumstances. And today we're going to talk about 11 00:00:43,920 --> 00:00:47,440 Speaker 1: the aftermath of the shipwreck and the artist who became 12 00:00:47,600 --> 00:00:51,000 Speaker 1: obsessed with it. This is going to reference details from 13 00:00:51,040 --> 00:00:53,400 Speaker 1: the first part that we're not going to rehash in 14 00:00:54,320 --> 00:00:57,960 Speaker 1: a lot of extra coverage. So it's definitely a situation 15 00:00:58,000 --> 00:01:00,120 Speaker 1: where if you have not heard that first one, you 16 00:01:00,120 --> 00:01:04,959 Speaker 1: should go back. And also, like last time, unfortunately, sorry, 17 00:01:05,080 --> 00:01:07,280 Speaker 1: I guess we can call this an on ramp to Halloween. 18 00:01:07,600 --> 00:01:10,039 Speaker 1: But there is some grizzly stuff in this one as well, 19 00:01:10,840 --> 00:01:13,600 Speaker 1: not just related to the shipwreck. Perhaps in a way 20 00:01:13,640 --> 00:01:20,919 Speaker 1: you might find surprises, so one of the surgeons aboard 21 00:01:20,959 --> 00:01:26,800 Speaker 1: the Medusa, Henri Saigne, and a geographical engineer named Alexander Coriar, 22 00:01:27,000 --> 00:01:30,880 Speaker 1: were among the ten men who survived the thirteen days 23 00:01:30,880 --> 00:01:34,720 Speaker 1: of just terror aboard the raft that had been constructed 24 00:01:34,880 --> 00:01:38,160 Speaker 1: on the fly out of the Medusa's timbers to try 25 00:01:38,200 --> 00:01:40,039 Speaker 1: to hold the people who would not fit on the 26 00:01:40,080 --> 00:01:44,479 Speaker 1: ship's lifeboats. They and other members of the ship's crew 27 00:01:44,640 --> 00:01:48,560 Speaker 1: prepared reports regarding what had happened both leading up to 28 00:01:48,840 --> 00:01:51,720 Speaker 1: and after the Medusa was run up on a reef 29 00:01:51,760 --> 00:01:56,520 Speaker 1: and unable to be floated again. These reports outlined the 30 00:01:56,800 --> 00:02:01,920 Speaker 1: many failings of the incompetent Chamaree, as well as his 31 00:02:02,120 --> 00:02:05,320 Speaker 1: absolute lack of adherence to duty in leaving many of 32 00:02:05,320 --> 00:02:08,520 Speaker 1: his men behind on the frigate as he just sailed 33 00:02:08,520 --> 00:02:12,480 Speaker 1: off in one of the lifeboats. Though the shipwreck had 34 00:02:12,560 --> 00:02:16,160 Speaker 1: happened in early July, news of it didn't reach French 35 00:02:16,200 --> 00:02:20,760 Speaker 1: papers until September, though even those reports were initially very 36 00:02:20,760 --> 00:02:25,240 Speaker 1: sparse on details. As the news spread in questions started 37 00:02:25,240 --> 00:02:28,840 Speaker 1: being asked here, Sevignye returned to Paris to deliver the 38 00:02:28,919 --> 00:02:33,080 Speaker 1: report to the Naval Ministry, but his report leaked to 39 00:02:33,120 --> 00:02:36,040 Speaker 1: the papers, and there was actually for a while suspicion 40 00:02:36,080 --> 00:02:39,280 Speaker 1: that he had sold the story himself. He had not. 41 00:02:39,680 --> 00:02:42,519 Speaker 1: There was political maneuvering going on that wanted to use 42 00:02:42,560 --> 00:02:45,200 Speaker 1: this report to damage the existing government, and that's how 43 00:02:45,240 --> 00:02:47,880 Speaker 1: it got there. But the editor of the newspaper that 44 00:02:48,000 --> 00:02:51,200 Speaker 1: ran the story actually had to sign a statement that 45 00:02:51,360 --> 00:02:55,400 Speaker 1: he had not gotten this information from the surgeon. An 46 00:02:55,480 --> 00:02:59,520 Speaker 1: inquiry into the events of the Medusa opened on September seventeenth, 47 00:02:59,560 --> 00:03:03,720 Speaker 1: eighteen sixteen. Next it went to a commission for a 48 00:03:03,760 --> 00:03:07,000 Speaker 1: deep dive into all of the evidence, which found clear 49 00:03:07,120 --> 00:03:10,040 Speaker 1: evidence of negligence on the part of the captain of 50 00:03:10,080 --> 00:03:14,560 Speaker 1: the Medusa, Julian Desire Schmalz, the appointed French governor of 51 00:03:14,600 --> 00:03:17,400 Speaker 1: Senegal who was part of all of this, had his 52 00:03:17,440 --> 00:03:21,480 Speaker 1: own report and he wanted Alexandle Couriard to sign it, 53 00:03:22,280 --> 00:03:25,000 Speaker 1: and his version claimed that the toe ropes from the 54 00:03:25,040 --> 00:03:28,840 Speaker 1: lifeboats to the raft had broken rather than being cut 55 00:03:29,000 --> 00:03:32,280 Speaker 1: or let go, and the engineer would not sign these 56 00:03:32,360 --> 00:03:35,640 Speaker 1: because that was frankly not the truth. But he was 57 00:03:35,720 --> 00:03:39,440 Speaker 1: harangued by Schmaltz's office for his signature. Despite the fact 58 00:03:39,480 --> 00:03:42,440 Speaker 1: that this was going on while Corier was still in 59 00:03:42,480 --> 00:03:46,600 Speaker 1: the hospital recovering from his time on the raft. I'm 60 00:03:46,640 --> 00:03:51,000 Speaker 1: just this is just like the worst work stories of today, 61 00:03:52,120 --> 00:03:56,480 Speaker 1: where like somebody's in the hospital recovering from a surgery 62 00:03:57,120 --> 00:03:59,600 Speaker 1: and their boss is like, I need you to sign 63 00:03:59,680 --> 00:04:05,160 Speaker 1: this today, but it's not true. Yeah, did you design 64 00:04:05,240 --> 00:04:07,640 Speaker 1: this today? Maybe in your week in state you'll agree 65 00:04:07,680 --> 00:04:11,240 Speaker 1: with my version of events. At the beginning of December, 66 00:04:11,600 --> 00:04:14,160 Speaker 1: Corey Aer was well enough to travel back to France, 67 00:04:14,440 --> 00:04:17,200 Speaker 1: and he traveled on the Loire, which had been part 68 00:04:17,240 --> 00:04:19,400 Speaker 1: of the group that was with the Medusa on its 69 00:04:19,480 --> 00:04:23,479 Speaker 1: tragic summer voyage. A number of other survivors of the 70 00:04:23,520 --> 00:04:29,320 Speaker 1: Medusa were there too, including Chamree Chamaree. According to Coreyar 71 00:04:29,560 --> 00:04:32,839 Speaker 1: and others aboard the Loire seemed to believe that he 72 00:04:32,920 --> 00:04:35,680 Speaker 1: had done nothing wrong and that he would be cleared 73 00:04:35,680 --> 00:04:39,679 Speaker 1: of any charges against him. The captain in fact blamed 74 00:04:39,720 --> 00:04:43,000 Speaker 1: the governor. Yeah, he kind of knew a court martial 75 00:04:43,080 --> 00:04:46,799 Speaker 1: was coming, and he was apparently preparing for his defense 76 00:04:46,880 --> 00:04:50,159 Speaker 1: for that, and almost the way someone is trying to 77 00:04:50,200 --> 00:04:53,440 Speaker 1: convince themselves of a thing by convincing others. He was 78 00:04:53,480 --> 00:04:56,359 Speaker 1: acting really weird and being like, remember how that happened? 79 00:04:56,360 --> 00:04:58,719 Speaker 1: That I was trying to do the right thing. Just 80 00:04:58,839 --> 00:05:01,800 Speaker 1: completely Remember how now I absolutely knew what I was 81 00:05:01,880 --> 00:05:04,560 Speaker 1: doing and listened to the advice of the people who 82 00:05:04,600 --> 00:05:09,120 Speaker 1: knew what they were doing. Yeah, that's not true. That 83 00:05:09,240 --> 00:05:11,960 Speaker 1: journey back to France was really rough for Coryr and 84 00:05:12,000 --> 00:05:14,960 Speaker 1: not just because he was having to travel with the 85 00:05:15,000 --> 00:05:18,000 Speaker 1: captain that had caused his misery. He was not fully 86 00:05:18,040 --> 00:05:20,279 Speaker 1: recovered physically. He was well enough to travel, but he 87 00:05:20,360 --> 00:05:23,240 Speaker 1: was not one hundred percent and mentally he was not 88 00:05:23,320 --> 00:05:25,520 Speaker 1: there at all. He was not at ease being back 89 00:05:25,560 --> 00:05:29,520 Speaker 1: at sea. His early days when he was on a 90 00:05:29,600 --> 00:05:31,880 Speaker 1: smaller boat that was taking him out to the Loire, 91 00:05:32,480 --> 00:05:34,280 Speaker 1: it sounds like he had a very rough time and 92 00:05:34,400 --> 00:05:37,800 Speaker 1: was so agitated and anxious that he was physically ill. 93 00:05:38,920 --> 00:05:41,680 Speaker 1: But when the Loire reached France at the port of Rochefort, 94 00:05:41,760 --> 00:05:45,479 Speaker 1: Coryer was actually hospitalized there, and while he was there, 95 00:05:46,080 --> 00:05:49,680 Speaker 1: the ship surgeon on Reese Aveagner often visited him, and 96 00:05:49,760 --> 00:05:52,080 Speaker 1: the two men shared the details of what had been 97 00:05:52,080 --> 00:05:55,359 Speaker 1: happening in their respective locations over the previous months, and 98 00:05:55,400 --> 00:05:59,240 Speaker 1: they started to collaborate on a definitive and detailed account 99 00:05:59,279 --> 00:06:04,000 Speaker 1: of the entire voyage, wreck and raft experience. That account 100 00:06:04,200 --> 00:06:08,479 Speaker 1: was narrative of a voyage to Senegal in eighteen sixteen 101 00:06:08,720 --> 00:06:12,600 Speaker 1: undertaken by order of the French government, comprising an account 102 00:06:12,680 --> 00:06:15,600 Speaker 1: of the sufferings of the crew and the various occurrences 103 00:06:15,640 --> 00:06:19,320 Speaker 1: on board the raft in the desert of Zara and 104 00:06:19,560 --> 00:06:23,880 Speaker 1: at Saint Luis and the camp of Dacord, to which 105 00:06:24,200 --> 00:06:29,000 Speaker 1: are subjoined observations respecting the agriculture of the western coast 106 00:06:29,040 --> 00:06:33,240 Speaker 1: of Africa, from Cape Blanco to the mouth of the Gambia. 107 00:06:33,640 --> 00:06:37,560 Speaker 1: This book was explosive. It gave everyone in France a detailed, 108 00:06:37,760 --> 00:06:41,560 Speaker 1: moment by moment account of what had transpired and how 109 00:06:41,640 --> 00:06:44,880 Speaker 1: quickly the raft had turned into a nightmare once it 110 00:06:44,960 --> 00:06:49,360 Speaker 1: was cut loose. The entire world was, in my mind, 111 00:06:49,480 --> 00:06:53,080 Speaker 1: unsurprisingly eager to hear this story, and soon it was 112 00:06:53,160 --> 00:06:58,560 Speaker 1: translated into multiple languages to meet that demand. Interestingly, and 113 00:06:58,760 --> 00:07:00,920 Speaker 1: tooine reche four, he was the man who had been 114 00:07:00,960 --> 00:07:03,919 Speaker 1: given a great deal of power by Captain Cholmer in 115 00:07:04,000 --> 00:07:07,239 Speaker 1: navigating the ship, even though he had no real qualifications, 116 00:07:07,720 --> 00:07:11,720 Speaker 1: was writing his own counter narrative, presumably hoping to pass 117 00:07:11,760 --> 00:07:15,360 Speaker 1: off any responsibility for the tragedy. And seven Yer and 118 00:07:15,400 --> 00:07:19,280 Speaker 1: Coriard actually noted this upcoming work in their book, stating 119 00:07:19,360 --> 00:07:22,080 Speaker 1: in the preface to the second edition, quote at the 120 00:07:22,120 --> 00:07:24,760 Speaker 1: moment that we publish a second edition of our narrative, 121 00:07:25,160 --> 00:07:27,880 Speaker 1: we learned that mister Sevignye is going to publish a 122 00:07:27,920 --> 00:07:32,320 Speaker 1: pretended account by mister richefor an auxiliary ex officer of 123 00:07:32,360 --> 00:07:35,960 Speaker 1: the French Marine. Our readers will not have forgotten a 124 00:07:35,960 --> 00:07:39,520 Speaker 1: certain pretended sea officer who was partly the cause of 125 00:07:39,560 --> 00:07:43,040 Speaker 1: our misfortunes, and who went on board the Medusa, gave 126 00:07:43,160 --> 00:07:47,160 Speaker 1: such unhappy advice to the captain, who still more unhappily 127 00:07:47,200 --> 00:07:52,200 Speaker 1: followed it too closely. Well, this ex officer, this fatal auxiliary, 128 00:07:52,440 --> 00:07:55,440 Speaker 1: who conducted the frigate upon the bank of Arguins, is 129 00:07:55,600 --> 00:07:58,880 Speaker 1: no other than mister Richefort. Having gone on board the 130 00:07:58,920 --> 00:08:02,400 Speaker 1: Governor's boat, he remained a stranger to the disasters which 131 00:08:02,400 --> 00:08:05,760 Speaker 1: he had partly caused, and consequently knew nothing of what 132 00:08:05,960 --> 00:08:08,880 Speaker 1: passed either upon the raft or on board the boats 133 00:08:08,880 --> 00:08:12,680 Speaker 1: which stranded, or in the desert. We make no farther remarks. 134 00:08:12,880 --> 00:08:16,160 Speaker 1: The public will judge of his account and ours. I 135 00:08:16,400 --> 00:08:19,920 Speaker 1: never actually found any information of this account that was 136 00:08:19,960 --> 00:08:22,880 Speaker 1: to be published by Richeforce, so I don't know if 137 00:08:22,920 --> 00:08:25,240 Speaker 1: it went forward, or if that plan was abandoned, or 138 00:08:25,280 --> 00:08:27,160 Speaker 1: if I just couldn't find it because it's so rare. 139 00:08:27,840 --> 00:08:31,880 Speaker 1: The story traveled well beyond France, though it doesn't appear 140 00:08:31,960 --> 00:08:35,360 Speaker 1: to have hit papers in the US until November. The 141 00:08:35,400 --> 00:08:38,680 Speaker 1: details of the thirteen days on the raft, even including 142 00:08:38,720 --> 00:08:41,480 Speaker 1: the harrowing decision to throw the dying off the raft 143 00:08:41,520 --> 00:08:46,000 Speaker 1: to preserve provisions, were all recounted. Hugh du Rois de 144 00:08:46,160 --> 00:08:50,600 Speaker 1: Chemerer faced a court martial that began in January eighteen seventeen. 145 00:08:51,559 --> 00:08:55,000 Speaker 1: Although there were almost two dozen witnesses, this wasn't a 146 00:08:55,040 --> 00:09:00,120 Speaker 1: scenario where testimony was particularly revelatory or explosive. All all 147 00:09:00,200 --> 00:09:03,400 Speaker 1: of the details had already become public knowledge, so this 148 00:09:03,559 --> 00:09:06,120 Speaker 1: was kind of just a matter of seeing what consequences 149 00:09:06,200 --> 00:09:10,760 Speaker 1: Chamerie might face. And Chamaree did not help his own case. 150 00:09:10,800 --> 00:09:12,679 Speaker 1: When he was called to the stand. He didn't even 151 00:09:12,760 --> 00:09:15,880 Speaker 1: give his age correctly. He was off by three years. 152 00:09:16,600 --> 00:09:20,079 Speaker 1: He also tried to pass blame to anyone and anything 153 00:09:20,240 --> 00:09:23,760 Speaker 1: but himself, citing, among other things, the haste with which 154 00:09:23,760 --> 00:09:26,120 Speaker 1: he was told to get to Senegal as part of 155 00:09:26,120 --> 00:09:29,520 Speaker 1: the reason things went wrong. He also claimed that he 156 00:09:29,679 --> 00:09:32,760 Speaker 1: was begged to command a lifeboat, which was not true. 157 00:09:32,800 --> 00:09:36,119 Speaker 1: He just left. He claimed that he felt the decisions 158 00:09:36,160 --> 00:09:38,560 Speaker 1: that he was making throughout this ordeal were for the 159 00:09:38,640 --> 00:09:41,360 Speaker 1: safety of the people aboard the ship, and that they 160 00:09:41,360 --> 00:09:46,200 Speaker 1: were all selfless. Though Chamret was obviously at fault for 161 00:09:46,360 --> 00:09:49,280 Speaker 1: a great portion of the Medusa tragedy, he got off 162 00:09:49,280 --> 00:09:53,240 Speaker 1: pretty easily. He was banned from naval service, stripped of 163 00:09:53,240 --> 00:09:56,800 Speaker 1: all prior military honors and his pension, required to pay 164 00:09:56,840 --> 00:09:59,800 Speaker 1: all the expenses of the court martial, and sentenced to 165 00:10:00,200 --> 00:10:03,240 Speaker 1: years in prison. I'm just gonna say, banning him from 166 00:10:03,280 --> 00:10:05,520 Speaker 1: the naval service when he had not been at sea 167 00:10:05,559 --> 00:10:11,120 Speaker 1: in like two decades and he was like retirement agent. Really. Yeah, 168 00:10:11,200 --> 00:10:15,040 Speaker 1: the rest of that may be somewhat more impactful, but 169 00:10:15,200 --> 00:10:18,640 Speaker 1: like three years did not seem like nearly enough to 170 00:10:18,720 --> 00:10:21,600 Speaker 1: a lot of his countrymen, given how many lives had 171 00:10:21,600 --> 00:10:26,000 Speaker 1: been lost through his negligence. Survivors of the ordeal felt 172 00:10:26,000 --> 00:10:28,920 Speaker 1: that the Ministry of the Navy had downplayed the whole 173 00:10:28,960 --> 00:10:32,880 Speaker 1: thing to prevent political fallout for the monarchy. Yeah. So, 174 00:10:32,960 --> 00:10:35,200 Speaker 1: if you were wondering in Part one why we read 175 00:10:35,240 --> 00:10:38,400 Speaker 1: some of the incredibly grisly passages, we did This was 176 00:10:38,520 --> 00:10:42,320 Speaker 1: part of why I wanted our listeners to understand really 177 00:10:42,360 --> 00:10:45,679 Speaker 1: how light this sentence is given what people endured and 178 00:10:45,720 --> 00:10:48,400 Speaker 1: the trauma that they lived through, in addition to the 179 00:10:48,400 --> 00:10:52,280 Speaker 1: people that died. As the news of the Medusa and 180 00:10:52,320 --> 00:10:55,680 Speaker 1: the story of Alexandre Corrier and Here seven Ye spread 181 00:10:55,679 --> 00:10:59,079 Speaker 1: throughout France, it seemed that literally everyone in the country 182 00:10:59,160 --> 00:11:04,400 Speaker 1: was fascinated and horrified by it, understandably, but one person 183 00:11:04,440 --> 00:11:08,920 Speaker 1: in particular, an artist named Teo Door Jericho, became completely 184 00:11:09,000 --> 00:11:12,800 Speaker 1: transfixed by the story. We'll talk about Jericho's life after 185 00:11:12,840 --> 00:11:25,280 Speaker 1: we pause for a sponsor break. Teo Door Jericho was 186 00:11:25,280 --> 00:11:29,280 Speaker 1: born on September twenty sixth, seventeen ninety one in Ruin, France. 187 00:11:29,679 --> 00:11:32,199 Speaker 1: He was the son of a lawyer. We don't have 188 00:11:32,240 --> 00:11:34,800 Speaker 1: a whole lot of information about his early life, although 189 00:11:34,800 --> 00:11:37,199 Speaker 1: we do know that his parents sent him to school 190 00:11:37,280 --> 00:11:41,320 Speaker 1: to study classical literature, which he abandoned to focus on painting. 191 00:11:42,480 --> 00:11:45,719 Speaker 1: One of the primary drivers for Jericho's interest in art 192 00:11:45,880 --> 00:11:50,080 Speaker 1: was his passion for horses. He had loved horses since 193 00:11:50,080 --> 00:11:52,680 Speaker 1: he was a tiny boy, and as he grew up, 194 00:11:52,960 --> 00:11:57,240 Speaker 1: he wanted his life's work to be painting them. Additionally, 195 00:11:57,520 --> 00:12:00,840 Speaker 1: Jericho had a scandal in his early life. When he 196 00:12:00,920 --> 00:12:03,679 Speaker 1: was sixteen, his uncle, who was in his early fifties, 197 00:12:03,720 --> 00:12:07,480 Speaker 1: married a much younger woman that was twenty two year 198 00:12:07,480 --> 00:12:12,160 Speaker 1: old Alexandrine Modeste de Saint Martin, and these two young 199 00:12:12,160 --> 00:12:15,319 Speaker 1: people became friends. She was interested in art, so they 200 00:12:15,360 --> 00:12:19,680 Speaker 1: had a natural affinity. In eighteen oh eight, Jericho's mother, 201 00:12:19,880 --> 00:12:23,640 Speaker 1: who also supported his hopes for an artistic career, died. 202 00:12:24,360 --> 00:12:27,800 Speaker 1: Although Theodore was financially set due to an inheritance from 203 00:12:27,840 --> 00:12:31,079 Speaker 1: his mother, he was still beholden to his father's wishes 204 00:12:31,120 --> 00:12:37,120 Speaker 1: for his future. Alexandrine became his primary supporter. This went 205 00:12:37,160 --> 00:12:40,319 Speaker 1: beyond encouragement. She got her husband to hire him and 206 00:12:40,400 --> 00:12:43,600 Speaker 1: do his business, which was tobacco. But that was something 207 00:12:43,679 --> 00:12:47,840 Speaker 1: of a ruse because Jericho was rarely at work and 208 00:12:47,880 --> 00:12:51,480 Speaker 1: he was instead getting lessons in art and horseback riding. 209 00:12:52,280 --> 00:12:56,000 Speaker 1: But his uncle, Jean Baptiste Carell, was repaid for this 210 00:12:56,120 --> 00:13:00,760 Speaker 1: kindness with a betrayal kind of unsurprising to me, which 211 00:13:00,840 --> 00:13:03,200 Speaker 1: is that Jericho fell in love with Alexandrine, and the 212 00:13:03,200 --> 00:13:05,959 Speaker 1: two of them started having an affair which went on 213 00:13:06,040 --> 00:13:11,240 Speaker 1: for quite some time. The nineteen eleven Encyclopedia Britannica entry 214 00:13:11,240 --> 00:13:15,000 Speaker 1: on Jericho says this of his painting teachers quote. In 215 00:13:15,040 --> 00:13:18,160 Speaker 1: eighteen oh eight he entered the studio of Charlesverner, from 216 00:13:18,240 --> 00:13:21,320 Speaker 1: which in nineteen ten he passed to that of guerin 217 00:13:21,559 --> 00:13:24,800 Speaker 1: whom he drove to despair by his passion for Rubens 218 00:13:25,040 --> 00:13:27,840 Speaker 1: and by the unorthodox manner in which he persisted in 219 00:13:27,840 --> 00:13:31,520 Speaker 1: interpreting nature. So it sounds like Jericho was kind of 220 00:13:31,559 --> 00:13:34,960 Speaker 1: intense and explosive in a number of ways outside of 221 00:13:34,960 --> 00:13:39,200 Speaker 1: his preferences in artists. After a number of issues with 222 00:13:39,320 --> 00:13:42,960 Speaker 1: guards and museum leadership, he was outright banned from the 223 00:13:43,000 --> 00:13:46,680 Speaker 1: Louver after he hit a student who was visiting there. 224 00:13:47,280 --> 00:13:50,199 Speaker 1: I could never quite suss out what the disagreement had 225 00:13:50,200 --> 00:13:53,800 Speaker 1: been between these two men, but Jericho was willing to 226 00:13:53,840 --> 00:13:59,319 Speaker 1: throw hands in a museum. As what I said. Jericho's 227 00:13:59,360 --> 00:14:03,760 Speaker 1: first major work to be displayed publicly translates to Officer 228 00:14:03,880 --> 00:14:07,720 Speaker 1: of the Mounted Hunters of the Imperial Guard Charging. This 229 00:14:07,840 --> 00:14:11,680 Speaker 1: eighteen twelve painting is nearly eleven feet tall and depicts, 230 00:14:11,960 --> 00:14:14,880 Speaker 1: as its name indicates, a military officer on a horse. 231 00:14:15,720 --> 00:14:18,120 Speaker 1: The charging part of the title is a little misleading. 232 00:14:18,200 --> 00:14:21,000 Speaker 1: The horse may be running forward, but it looks as 233 00:14:21,040 --> 00:14:23,920 Speaker 1: if it's rearing and trying to turn away from the 234 00:14:23,960 --> 00:14:28,240 Speaker 1: direction it's pointed. Similarly, the officer has turned at kind 235 00:14:28,280 --> 00:14:32,320 Speaker 1: of an awkward angle towards something behind him, brandishing his sword. 236 00:14:33,480 --> 00:14:36,440 Speaker 1: I will say, if this is your first public display 237 00:14:36,600 --> 00:14:41,040 Speaker 1: of a piece of art, I think for most people 238 00:14:41,040 --> 00:14:43,080 Speaker 1: it would knock their socks off, as like, oh, this 239 00:14:43,120 --> 00:14:47,120 Speaker 1: is like an amateur's first foray into professional work. It's 240 00:14:47,600 --> 00:14:50,240 Speaker 1: whether you love the subject matter or not. It's beautifully 241 00:14:50,240 --> 00:14:53,600 Speaker 1: executed and it is enormous, so it's very impressive. And 242 00:14:53,680 --> 00:14:57,640 Speaker 1: two years after that first painting, Jericho exhibited another painting 243 00:14:57,720 --> 00:15:01,120 Speaker 1: of a soldier with a horse. In this piece, titled 244 00:15:01,200 --> 00:15:08,040 Speaker 1: Cuirassier bless Kitu or Wounded Cirassier leaving the fire, fire 245 00:15:08,160 --> 00:15:11,440 Speaker 1: is sometimes translated as battle. He is walking away from 246 00:15:11,560 --> 00:15:14,160 Speaker 1: whatever it is he's been involved in. But unlike the 247 00:15:14,200 --> 00:15:17,360 Speaker 1: previous painting, this soldier is not riding his horse. He 248 00:15:17,440 --> 00:15:20,160 Speaker 1: is walking alongside it and holding it by the reins. 249 00:15:20,800 --> 00:15:26,240 Speaker 1: The horse has a look about him that many people 250 00:15:26,280 --> 00:15:29,600 Speaker 1: have perceived as uncertain, and the soldier is looking back 251 00:15:29,600 --> 00:15:32,240 Speaker 1: over his shoulder to the dark area that they are leaving. 252 00:15:33,200 --> 00:15:36,560 Speaker 1: And this image is really pretty benign to modern eyes, 253 00:15:36,600 --> 00:15:40,400 Speaker 1: but it was very controversial in eighteen fourteen. For one, 254 00:15:40,720 --> 00:15:43,000 Speaker 1: it depicted a soldier in a way that was not 255 00:15:43,240 --> 00:15:46,920 Speaker 1: heroic in the least. He appears to have been defeated, 256 00:15:47,480 --> 00:15:50,360 Speaker 1: which is not great, and the painting was also quite dark. 257 00:15:50,720 --> 00:15:53,680 Speaker 1: There was nothing glorious about it, and while the title 258 00:15:53,800 --> 00:15:57,600 Speaker 1: mentions the soldier as wounded, there are no obvious wounds 259 00:15:57,640 --> 00:16:00,600 Speaker 1: on him, leading to the interpretation by some that his 260 00:16:00,680 --> 00:16:04,520 Speaker 1: wounds are emotional, either because his ego was bruised or 261 00:16:04,560 --> 00:16:08,960 Speaker 1: because he saw the horrors of battle, also things that 262 00:16:08,960 --> 00:16:13,000 Speaker 1: would not have been perceived as honorable in this time. 263 00:16:13,680 --> 00:16:16,960 Speaker 1: This was all rebellious on Jericho's part because this was 264 00:16:17,040 --> 00:16:20,640 Speaker 1: essentially a painting that criticized war, and he exhibited this 265 00:16:20,840 --> 00:16:23,920 Speaker 1: in the eighteen twelve painting Side by Side at the 266 00:16:23,960 --> 00:16:29,560 Speaker 1: Paris Salon, and reviews were very mixed. After this less 267 00:16:29,600 --> 00:16:33,920 Speaker 1: than enthusiastic reception, Jericho decided to give up art, at 268 00:16:34,000 --> 00:16:39,000 Speaker 1: least temporarily. He enlisted to fight against Napoleon's forces during 269 00:16:39,040 --> 00:16:42,800 Speaker 1: the One Hundred Days' Rule, joining the Musketeers. In his 270 00:16:42,880 --> 00:16:45,960 Speaker 1: two thousand and seven book about the Medusa and Jericho. 271 00:16:46,440 --> 00:16:50,480 Speaker 1: Historian Jonathan Miles speculated that this might have been an 272 00:16:50,520 --> 00:16:55,240 Speaker 1: effort to distract himself from Alexandrine, although once the king 273 00:16:55,400 --> 00:16:58,880 Speaker 1: was exiled, his service was basically over and he went 274 00:16:58,960 --> 00:17:03,040 Speaker 1: right to her chateau. Jericho next traveled to Italy to 275 00:17:03,160 --> 00:17:06,040 Speaker 1: work and study in Rome and Florence, and while there 276 00:17:06,080 --> 00:17:10,440 Speaker 1: he became deeply engrossed by the work of Michelangelo. Who 277 00:17:10,480 --> 00:17:14,040 Speaker 1: wouldn't He also witnessed an event in Rome that became 278 00:17:14,080 --> 00:17:16,720 Speaker 1: the focus of his next large project, and that was 279 00:17:16,760 --> 00:17:20,280 Speaker 1: a carnival horse race. So this was the subject of 280 00:17:20,320 --> 00:17:24,399 Speaker 1: his unfinished work, the Race of the Riderless Horses, and 281 00:17:24,480 --> 00:17:28,639 Speaker 1: for this project, Jericho created multiple detailed studies of the 282 00:17:28,640 --> 00:17:32,679 Speaker 1: moment just before the race begins, showing frightened horses and 283 00:17:32,720 --> 00:17:36,040 Speaker 1: their keepers trying to control them. So just FYI, if 284 00:17:36,040 --> 00:17:39,160 Speaker 1: you search for this work, you may see multiple different images. 285 00:17:39,600 --> 00:17:41,959 Speaker 1: That's because some of them are the studies that he 286 00:17:42,000 --> 00:17:44,960 Speaker 1: was doing to prepare for the final piece. He was 287 00:17:45,080 --> 00:17:47,920 Speaker 1: never able to create the large scale painting he had 288 00:17:47,960 --> 00:17:51,359 Speaker 1: in mind, though in part because his fixation on the 289 00:17:51,400 --> 00:17:54,600 Speaker 1: wreck of the Medusa supplanted all of his other work. 290 00:17:55,560 --> 00:17:58,919 Speaker 1: But he didn't move on to the Medusa project right away. 291 00:17:59,680 --> 00:18:03,080 Speaker 1: Heated a series of lithographs first, some of which were 292 00:18:03,160 --> 00:18:07,080 Speaker 1: quite erotic in nature. The timing of the Medusa story 293 00:18:07,160 --> 00:18:10,160 Speaker 1: hitting the papers and becoming a source of outrage over 294 00:18:10,160 --> 00:18:14,440 Speaker 1: the poor leadership aligned with a moment when Jericho probably 295 00:18:14,560 --> 00:18:19,640 Speaker 1: needed a diversion. His aunt by marriage in Paramour, Alexandrine, 296 00:18:19,680 --> 00:18:22,880 Speaker 1: had broken things off with them, and then the two 297 00:18:22,880 --> 00:18:26,720 Speaker 1: of them started their affair anew and Alexandrine became pregnant, 298 00:18:27,080 --> 00:18:30,840 Speaker 1: so the need for escape continued in a different way. 299 00:18:31,080 --> 00:18:34,960 Speaker 1: He did not have further contact with Alexandrine, and the 300 00:18:35,000 --> 00:18:38,720 Speaker 1: son that she had was surrendered to the state. Yeah, 301 00:18:38,760 --> 00:18:41,440 Speaker 1: this is one of those cases where it's not explicitly 302 00:18:43,280 --> 00:18:47,200 Speaker 1: laid out, but everything indicates that it would have been 303 00:18:47,320 --> 00:18:50,800 Speaker 1: obvious to his uncle that they had been having an affair. 304 00:18:50,960 --> 00:18:56,960 Speaker 1: So presumably his uncle and Alexandrine were either not having 305 00:18:56,960 --> 00:18:59,879 Speaker 1: a very sexual marriage by this point, or there was 306 00:19:00,080 --> 00:19:01,840 Speaker 1: something else in the mix that would have prevented the 307 00:19:01,880 --> 00:19:04,359 Speaker 1: two of them conceiving. Basically, this was going to be 308 00:19:04,440 --> 00:19:08,040 Speaker 1: super obvious that she had had an affair. When Jericho 309 00:19:08,200 --> 00:19:11,640 Speaker 1: returned to Paris from Italy, the story of the Medusa 310 00:19:11,720 --> 00:19:15,320 Speaker 1: had been revealing itself layer by layer and exposing the 311 00:19:15,359 --> 00:19:18,800 Speaker 1: bad decisions that had started with the appointment of Chamare 312 00:19:19,359 --> 00:19:22,600 Speaker 1: to the role of captain of the flagship Medusa. I mean, 313 00:19:22,640 --> 00:19:24,359 Speaker 1: if you want to get technical, you could go farther 314 00:19:24,400 --> 00:19:26,960 Speaker 1: back than that and say it starts with like colonization. 315 00:19:27,080 --> 00:19:30,760 Speaker 1: But for the purposes of this event, that's what was 316 00:19:30,760 --> 00:19:35,520 Speaker 1: being pointed to is the beginning. Jericho invited Alexandle Coriard 317 00:19:35,600 --> 00:19:39,159 Speaker 1: and Heure Savigny to his studio to tell him personally 318 00:19:39,280 --> 00:19:42,879 Speaker 1: about their experiences, and he worked with these two survivors 319 00:19:42,920 --> 00:19:46,840 Speaker 1: to create a meticulously rendered illustration of the raft so 320 00:19:46,880 --> 00:19:48,840 Speaker 1: that he could ensure the project that he had in 321 00:19:48,880 --> 00:19:52,919 Speaker 1: mind would be as accurate as possible. This also became 322 00:19:53,000 --> 00:19:56,400 Speaker 1: something of a political statement for Jericho because he saw 323 00:19:56,400 --> 00:19:59,199 Speaker 1: in the Medusa story a parallel of the ways that 324 00:19:59,240 --> 00:20:02,400 Speaker 1: the French government had become ineffectual in the years following 325 00:20:02,400 --> 00:20:07,159 Speaker 1: the Napoleonic Wars. Like the first part of this one, 326 00:20:07,320 --> 00:20:12,080 Speaker 1: the third act is where some gory bits are. So 327 00:20:12,359 --> 00:20:14,600 Speaker 1: let's take a breather before that and hear from the 328 00:20:14,600 --> 00:20:27,080 Speaker 1: sponsors that keep stuffy missed in history class. Going to 329 00:20:27,320 --> 00:20:31,719 Speaker 1: visually recreate the harrowing scenes that Koryar and Savigny had 330 00:20:31,760 --> 00:20:35,440 Speaker 1: described to him. Jericho felt that he had to truly 331 00:20:35,720 --> 00:20:39,920 Speaker 1: understand the ways that the human body deteriorated, both while 332 00:20:40,000 --> 00:20:44,639 Speaker 1: still alive and after death, so he started spending time 333 00:20:44,920 --> 00:20:50,760 Speaker 1: in morgues and hospitals. A lot of time he attended dissections, 334 00:20:50,880 --> 00:20:54,000 Speaker 1: and sometimes he actually painted while he was in the morgue. 335 00:20:54,520 --> 00:20:57,840 Speaker 1: He created a painting in early eighteen nineteen called Anatomical 336 00:20:57,880 --> 00:21:01,359 Speaker 1: Fragments or sometimes you'll see it as Anatomic Pieces. It 337 00:21:01,480 --> 00:21:05,440 Speaker 1: is a study of a pile of severed limbs. In 338 00:21:05,480 --> 00:21:08,719 Speaker 1: some cases, the artist was able to get body parts 339 00:21:08,760 --> 00:21:12,080 Speaker 1: from deceased persons and take them back to his studio 340 00:21:12,440 --> 00:21:16,480 Speaker 1: to observe their decomposition and make sketches and painted studies 341 00:21:16,480 --> 00:21:20,240 Speaker 1: of them. He even made daily images of the same 342 00:21:20,400 --> 00:21:23,240 Speaker 1: limb decaying day after day so he would have a 343 00:21:23,280 --> 00:21:26,600 Speaker 1: complete and dated record of the process to use as 344 00:21:26,600 --> 00:21:30,560 Speaker 1: a reference. This it's not a secret. His friends knew 345 00:21:30,640 --> 00:21:35,320 Speaker 1: that this was happening. Yeah, they were a little squinked 346 00:21:35,320 --> 00:21:38,280 Speaker 1: out by it, understandably, and thought he was being oddly 347 00:21:38,320 --> 00:21:40,680 Speaker 1: obsessive and that he might get a weird infection from 348 00:21:40,720 --> 00:21:43,480 Speaker 1: having all of these decomposing body parts around him, but 349 00:21:44,080 --> 00:21:46,560 Speaker 1: nobody was like, don't do that. They were like, it's 350 00:21:46,600 --> 00:21:49,679 Speaker 1: he's an artist, it's his work. All of this obsessive 351 00:21:49,720 --> 00:21:53,679 Speaker 1: behavior was tied to the desire to once again become 352 00:21:53,760 --> 00:21:58,120 Speaker 1: the darling of the Paris Salon Teo Door. Jericho wanted 353 00:21:58,119 --> 00:22:01,359 Speaker 1: his entry in the eighteen nineteen Salon to be a 354 00:22:01,480 --> 00:22:05,399 Speaker 1: sure winner. He had been so influenced by Coriar that 355 00:22:05,480 --> 00:22:08,880 Speaker 1: he depicted him in the painting. Corier appears smack dab 356 00:22:08,920 --> 00:22:12,440 Speaker 1: in the center of it. Sevignye is also in the painting, 357 00:22:12,480 --> 00:22:16,119 Speaker 1: although he is less prominent. And Jericho worked on the 358 00:22:16,200 --> 00:22:19,880 Speaker 1: raft of the Medusa from eighteen eighteen to eighteen nineteen, 359 00:22:19,920 --> 00:22:22,920 Speaker 1: when it was shown publicly for the first time, and 360 00:22:23,000 --> 00:22:25,320 Speaker 1: even then he was still working on it even after 361 00:22:25,359 --> 00:22:27,800 Speaker 1: it had been placed in the gallery for the salon, 362 00:22:28,160 --> 00:22:31,520 Speaker 1: but before the salon officially began, he continued to paint, 363 00:22:31,680 --> 00:22:34,920 Speaker 1: adding several dead bodies to the raft at that late stage. 364 00:22:35,960 --> 00:22:39,480 Speaker 1: This painting is enormous. It's more than sixteen feet tall 365 00:22:39,560 --> 00:22:42,840 Speaker 1: and twenty three feet wide. It's painted in the style 366 00:22:42,920 --> 00:22:45,639 Speaker 1: of French Romanticism, which is the school of arts in 367 00:22:45,680 --> 00:22:51,560 Speaker 1: literature that followed neoclassicism and rationalism. So what Charles Baudelaire 368 00:22:51,680 --> 00:22:57,840 Speaker 1: characterized in his essay what is Romanticism as quote, intimacy, spirituality, color, 369 00:22:58,560 --> 00:23:02,439 Speaker 1: yearning for the infinite, expressed by all the means the 370 00:23:02,560 --> 00:23:07,720 Speaker 1: arts possess the individual is central to the ideas of Romanticism. 371 00:23:07,960 --> 00:23:13,440 Speaker 1: Personal experience, imagination, connections to nature, and transcendental experience are 372 00:23:13,480 --> 00:23:18,760 Speaker 1: all frequently represented. But Jericho's painting was a darker sort 373 00:23:18,760 --> 00:23:22,600 Speaker 1: of Romanticism than was typical of the time. All of 374 00:23:22,640 --> 00:23:25,879 Speaker 1: those studies that he made regarding the human body enabled 375 00:23:25,960 --> 00:23:30,439 Speaker 1: him to depict very realistic bodies in agonized and in 376 00:23:30,480 --> 00:23:34,639 Speaker 1: some cases dead states. In the image, the handful of 377 00:23:34,680 --> 00:23:37,399 Speaker 1: people that are remaining on the raft have seen their 378 00:23:37,440 --> 00:23:41,000 Speaker 1: rescuers on the horizon. Some of them are waving rags 379 00:23:41,000 --> 00:23:45,200 Speaker 1: of cloth to get the approaching ship's attention. Another aspect 380 00:23:45,240 --> 00:23:49,400 Speaker 1: of Jericho's raft painting that made it unusual was that 381 00:23:49,560 --> 00:23:53,800 Speaker 1: it was a depiction of contemporary events in a time 382 00:23:53,960 --> 00:23:57,440 Speaker 1: when there were no photos and rarely any illustrations and 383 00:23:57,560 --> 00:24:03,200 Speaker 1: news accounts. A large scale image of the horrific experience 384 00:24:03,280 --> 00:24:06,680 Speaker 1: that the raft contingent had been through, which had led 385 00:24:06,720 --> 00:24:10,320 Speaker 1: to so many deaths made a huge impression on the 386 00:24:10,359 --> 00:24:13,800 Speaker 1: French public that was really grappling with the details of 387 00:24:13,840 --> 00:24:18,119 Speaker 1: the irresponsible leadership and resultant suffering that made up the case. 388 00:24:19,320 --> 00:24:22,280 Speaker 1: There had been an initial effort not to reference the 389 00:24:22,320 --> 00:24:25,160 Speaker 1: Medusa in the title. At the request of the Salon, 390 00:24:25,359 --> 00:24:28,879 Speaker 1: Jericho had agreed to call it the scene of the shipwreck, 391 00:24:29,000 --> 00:24:32,760 Speaker 1: but everybody knew that this was a depiction of the Medusa. 392 00:24:32,880 --> 00:24:36,440 Speaker 1: Raft it did not go over well at the Salon. 393 00:24:36,960 --> 00:24:39,359 Speaker 1: It did win a gold medal, but no title, which 394 00:24:39,400 --> 00:24:44,440 Speaker 1: was unusual. Some critics criticized Jericho for selecting the shipwreck 395 00:24:44,440 --> 00:24:47,359 Speaker 1: as subject matter. Yeah, it was like, we kind of 396 00:24:47,359 --> 00:24:49,240 Speaker 1: have to give you an award because this is a 397 00:24:49,320 --> 00:24:54,720 Speaker 1: really obviously amazing achievement in painting, but like you're not 398 00:24:54,760 --> 00:24:57,840 Speaker 1: going to get a prize prize. And they just thought 399 00:24:58,080 --> 00:25:01,040 Speaker 1: he was being very carass in using this and that 400 00:25:01,080 --> 00:25:05,520 Speaker 1: he was exploiting the pain of these current events. But 401 00:25:05,920 --> 00:25:09,520 Speaker 1: this painting brought the scandal of the Medusa back into 402 00:25:09,560 --> 00:25:12,600 Speaker 1: the public consciousness. This, of course, came out three years 403 00:25:12,640 --> 00:25:15,960 Speaker 1: after the wreck had happened. In our recent episode on 404 00:25:16,160 --> 00:25:19,400 Speaker 1: augustin Frenelle, we mentioned that he started the lighthouse improvement 405 00:25:19,440 --> 00:25:23,040 Speaker 1: project for the French government in eighteen nineteen. That was 406 00:25:23,080 --> 00:25:27,520 Speaker 1: the same year that Jerico showed this painting. Though Jericho's 407 00:25:27,560 --> 00:25:30,320 Speaker 1: painting of the raft didn't get a lot of positive 408 00:25:30,400 --> 00:25:34,720 Speaker 1: attention in France, the account, written by Alexandre Courier and 409 00:25:34,920 --> 00:25:39,680 Speaker 1: Henri Savni, was hugely successful and was reprinted in multiple editions. 410 00:25:40,520 --> 00:25:44,719 Speaker 1: For the fourth of these, Jericho painted four ten by 411 00:25:44,840 --> 00:25:49,080 Speaker 1: sixteen and a half centimeter illustrations. The originals were given 412 00:25:49,119 --> 00:25:53,119 Speaker 1: as gifts to Corey Are. One was a watercolor version 413 00:25:53,200 --> 00:25:56,560 Speaker 1: of the full painting of the raft. A second shows 414 00:25:56,560 --> 00:25:59,159 Speaker 1: another survivor who had not been on the raft and 415 00:25:59,280 --> 00:26:03,440 Speaker 1: landed far north of the Senegalese capital. In the painting, 416 00:26:03,520 --> 00:26:07,119 Speaker 1: he appears before the King of the Maritanians. The third 417 00:26:07,440 --> 00:26:10,320 Speaker 1: is a scene in the hospital in Sant Luis, Senegal, 418 00:26:10,359 --> 00:26:14,160 Speaker 1: where the survivors of the raft, including Coryer, are visited 419 00:26:14,280 --> 00:26:17,800 Speaker 1: by officers from the Argus, and the fourth was a 420 00:26:17,840 --> 00:26:21,399 Speaker 1: depiction of the moment the Medusa broke apart. That fourth 421 00:26:21,480 --> 00:26:26,040 Speaker 1: painting has been lost. In eighteen twenty tea door Jerico 422 00:26:26,200 --> 00:26:29,040 Speaker 1: left France for England, and he took the raft of 423 00:26:29,080 --> 00:26:32,960 Speaker 1: the Medusa with him. The artworks reception in England was 424 00:26:33,160 --> 00:26:35,840 Speaker 1: far more enthusiastic than what it had been in France. 425 00:26:36,080 --> 00:26:40,000 Speaker 1: This actually makes sense politically, right. England had to seed 426 00:26:40,320 --> 00:26:44,280 Speaker 1: Senegal to France, so seeing a massive painting that showed 427 00:26:44,320 --> 00:26:49,000 Speaker 1: French ineptitude frankly felt good to the English. The English 428 00:26:49,080 --> 00:26:53,280 Speaker 1: language translation of seven Yen Coriyard's book was also hugely 429 00:26:53,359 --> 00:26:56,640 Speaker 1: popular in England, and both the book and the painting 430 00:26:56,800 --> 00:26:59,680 Speaker 1: garnered rave reviews in the English press. I saw one 431 00:26:59,720 --> 00:27:02,080 Speaker 1: review that was like, this is the best piece of 432 00:27:02,160 --> 00:27:04,359 Speaker 1: art that has ever been created in the history of man, 433 00:27:04,480 --> 00:27:08,800 Speaker 1: like they loved the Raft of the Medusa. Jericho returned 434 00:27:08,880 --> 00:27:11,440 Speaker 1: to France while The Raft of the Medusa was still 435 00:27:11,520 --> 00:27:14,840 Speaker 1: drawing crowds in London, although he did return to London 436 00:27:15,000 --> 00:27:18,439 Speaker 1: as well in the next two years. Back home, he 437 00:27:18,520 --> 00:27:21,880 Speaker 1: completed a series of portraits that were informed by spending 438 00:27:22,000 --> 00:27:25,959 Speaker 1: time with his friend Etienne Jean George, who was an 439 00:27:25,960 --> 00:27:30,520 Speaker 1: early practitioner of modern psychiatry. While there were certainly studies 440 00:27:30,560 --> 00:27:34,520 Speaker 1: of human behavior before the nineteenth century, the term psychiatry 441 00:27:34,600 --> 00:27:37,080 Speaker 1: had only been coined in eighteen oh eight, so it 442 00:27:37,160 --> 00:27:40,600 Speaker 1: was a newly established field in the early eighteen twenties. 443 00:27:41,520 --> 00:27:45,720 Speaker 1: Some accounts indicate that the portrait series was actually commissioned 444 00:27:45,760 --> 00:27:50,879 Speaker 1: by George. This tracks because, like a lot of people 445 00:27:51,000 --> 00:27:54,880 Speaker 1: studying and treating mental disorders at the time, Cherse believed 446 00:27:54,920 --> 00:27:58,080 Speaker 1: in physiognomy, which is the pseudoscience that says that a 447 00:27:58,119 --> 00:28:03,920 Speaker 1: person's facial features are direct indication of their character. Jericho 448 00:28:04,080 --> 00:28:07,480 Speaker 1: unveiled this portrait series, which consisted of paintings of people 449 00:28:07,520 --> 00:28:12,040 Speaker 1: who had been deemed insane, in eighteen twenty two. The series, 450 00:28:12,080 --> 00:28:16,000 Speaker 1: which is simply titled Les monomon or Portraits of the Insane, 451 00:28:16,080 --> 00:28:20,440 Speaker 1: included ten paintings, although all of them have not survived, 452 00:28:20,480 --> 00:28:23,399 Speaker 1: at least that we know of. We don't know the 453 00:28:23,480 --> 00:28:26,800 Speaker 1: names of any of the people featured. It's possible that 454 00:28:26,880 --> 00:28:31,399 Speaker 1: they were all hospitalized in asylums in Paris. The paintings 455 00:28:31,440 --> 00:28:36,120 Speaker 1: are portrait of a woman suffering from obsessive envy, portrait 456 00:28:36,160 --> 00:28:40,640 Speaker 1: of a kleptomaniac, Portrait of a man suffering from military delusions, 457 00:28:41,200 --> 00:28:45,200 Speaker 1: a woman addicted to gambling, and portrait of a child snatcher. 458 00:28:45,960 --> 00:28:48,240 Speaker 1: The style of each of these pieces was the same. 459 00:28:48,920 --> 00:28:51,959 Speaker 1: All of them show the subjects from the waste or 460 00:28:52,080 --> 00:28:55,720 Speaker 1: chest up in three quarter profile. The background in each 461 00:28:55,760 --> 00:28:58,440 Speaker 1: of them is dark, with the sitter illuminated as though 462 00:28:58,480 --> 00:29:01,800 Speaker 1: they were emerging from the darkness. None of the subjects 463 00:29:01,840 --> 00:29:06,480 Speaker 1: is looking directly at the viewer, and as you may 464 00:29:06,520 --> 00:29:09,960 Speaker 1: have been counting in your head, Tracy read five titles 465 00:29:09,960 --> 00:29:12,320 Speaker 1: there out of the ten that he made. We're going 466 00:29:12,400 --> 00:29:14,840 Speaker 1: to talk about what we know about these portraits and 467 00:29:14,920 --> 00:29:17,480 Speaker 1: what we don't in just a moment, because the path 468 00:29:17,520 --> 00:29:20,800 Speaker 1: of these pieces through time has actually been a little uncertain. 469 00:29:21,720 --> 00:29:24,360 Speaker 1: George seems to have had them until he died, and 470 00:29:24,400 --> 00:29:27,440 Speaker 1: it's believed that at that point two of his students 471 00:29:27,520 --> 00:29:30,720 Speaker 1: acquired them at auction and split them up. We're going 472 00:29:30,800 --> 00:29:32,960 Speaker 1: to talk more about these paintings in just a bit. 473 00:29:34,000 --> 00:29:38,640 Speaker 1: Jericho was also planning some additional large paintings, including one 474 00:29:38,680 --> 00:29:42,040 Speaker 1: depicting the horrors of the slave trade, but he didn't 475 00:29:42,040 --> 00:29:44,960 Speaker 1: get beyond the early stages with it, as his health 476 00:29:45,120 --> 00:29:48,000 Speaker 1: undercut his ability to work at the large scale that 477 00:29:48,080 --> 00:29:52,360 Speaker 1: he intended for it. Like so many other people, Jericho 478 00:29:52,440 --> 00:29:57,000 Speaker 1: had tuberculosis. He also had two horse accidents that left 479 00:29:57,040 --> 00:30:00,280 Speaker 1: him weakened. In his final weeks, when he he had 480 00:30:00,320 --> 00:30:03,840 Speaker 1: wasted away, Jericho painted his final self portrait, which is 481 00:30:03,920 --> 00:30:07,680 Speaker 1: a haunting image that shows the ravages of the disease 482 00:30:07,760 --> 00:30:12,360 Speaker 1: on him. He died on January twenty sixth, eighteen twenty four. 483 00:30:13,280 --> 00:30:16,200 Speaker 1: The raft of the Medusa has continued to be lauded 484 00:30:16,240 --> 00:30:21,000 Speaker 1: for its technical achievement and its extraordinary visual impact. While 485 00:30:21,080 --> 00:30:24,640 Speaker 1: Jericho died waiting for someone to buy it, at the time, 486 00:30:24,680 --> 00:30:27,920 Speaker 1: he was in talks with the King of France to 487 00:30:28,360 --> 00:30:32,320 Speaker 1: acquire it. It was eventually acquired from his estate after 488 00:30:32,360 --> 00:30:35,040 Speaker 1: his passing, and it has continued since then to be 489 00:30:35,080 --> 00:30:39,160 Speaker 1: part of the Louvers collection. In eighteen fifty nine, unwilling 490 00:30:39,240 --> 00:30:42,640 Speaker 1: to loan the painting out, the Louver commissioned Pierre des 491 00:30:42,800 --> 00:30:47,080 Speaker 1: rey Guillemet and Etienne Antoine yu Genja to create a 492 00:30:47,120 --> 00:30:50,360 Speaker 1: copy of it that they use for loaning purposes, while 493 00:30:50,360 --> 00:30:54,480 Speaker 1: the original always stays in Paris. After he was released 494 00:30:54,520 --> 00:30:58,680 Speaker 1: from prison in eighteen nineteen, Hugh Duras de Chemer retired 495 00:30:58,760 --> 00:31:01,960 Speaker 1: to the country or he racked up an enormous debt 496 00:31:02,080 --> 00:31:05,200 Speaker 1: before his death more than twenty years later, on November 497 00:31:05,200 --> 00:31:10,200 Speaker 1: twenty third, eighteen forty one. Alexandre Courier became a bookseller 498 00:31:10,240 --> 00:31:14,480 Speaker 1: and a publisher, as well as a pretty widely known 499 00:31:14,520 --> 00:31:20,160 Speaker 1: political activist. He was arrested many times for publishing controversial 500 00:31:20,200 --> 00:31:23,719 Speaker 1: materials that criticized the monarchy and the French government, and 501 00:31:23,760 --> 00:31:26,280 Speaker 1: he was actually imprisoned for this work at one point. 502 00:31:26,880 --> 00:31:31,720 Speaker 1: He died in eighteen fifty seven. Alri Savigny was accused 503 00:31:31,760 --> 00:31:35,760 Speaker 1: by a variety of people of himself being negligent regarding 504 00:31:35,880 --> 00:31:39,680 Speaker 1: the way the raft contingent was led. There were people 505 00:31:39,720 --> 00:31:41,960 Speaker 1: from higher up the chain of command who tried to 506 00:31:42,040 --> 00:31:44,720 Speaker 1: blame him for a lot of the horrors that had 507 00:31:44,760 --> 00:31:49,200 Speaker 1: come to light. Although he initially fought these accusations, eventually 508 00:31:49,280 --> 00:31:51,160 Speaker 1: it seems like he just tried to get out from 509 00:31:51,240 --> 00:31:54,160 Speaker 1: under the shadow of the Medusa. He died in eighteen 510 00:31:54,240 --> 00:31:58,200 Speaker 1: forty three. Yeah, he quit the Navy after some of 511 00:31:58,240 --> 00:32:00,800 Speaker 1: these accusations started because he just did want anything to 512 00:32:00,840 --> 00:32:04,880 Speaker 1: do with it. Jericho's short life he was only thirty 513 00:32:04,880 --> 00:32:08,400 Speaker 1: two when he died, left a mystery that is still unraveling. 514 00:32:09,200 --> 00:32:12,720 Speaker 1: In eighteen sixty three, five of Jericho's portraits of mental 515 00:32:12,800 --> 00:32:15,520 Speaker 1: illness were reported found in the home of one of 516 00:32:15,600 --> 00:32:19,040 Speaker 1: Georges's students, that was a man named la Chaise, and 517 00:32:19,080 --> 00:32:22,400 Speaker 1: they were found by an art historian named Louis Villar d'aux. 518 00:32:23,200 --> 00:32:26,520 Speaker 1: Those five works were, after analysis, accepted as the work 519 00:32:26,560 --> 00:32:29,800 Speaker 1: of Jericho. So again, those are a woman addicted to gambling, 520 00:32:29,880 --> 00:32:34,360 Speaker 1: a child snatcher, a woman suffering from obsessive envy, a kleptomaniac, 521 00:32:34,400 --> 00:32:38,400 Speaker 1: and a man suffering from delusions of military command. From 522 00:32:38,440 --> 00:32:41,640 Speaker 1: the moment those paintings surfaced, people wondered where the other 523 00:32:41,800 --> 00:32:45,200 Speaker 1: five were. It was assumed that the lot of ten 524 00:32:45,280 --> 00:32:48,920 Speaker 1: had been split evenly between La Chaise and another man 525 00:32:49,000 --> 00:32:54,200 Speaker 1: named Mercal. The two of them were Georges Proteges. No 526 00:32:54,240 --> 00:32:57,600 Speaker 1: one even knows what those other portraits are, although there 527 00:32:57,640 --> 00:33:02,160 Speaker 1: have been lots of theories. Then, in twenty twenty one, 528 00:33:02,400 --> 00:33:06,400 Speaker 1: a biologist named Javier Burgos announced that he believed he 529 00:33:06,480 --> 00:33:09,560 Speaker 1: had found one of them in a private collection in Italy. 530 00:33:10,480 --> 00:33:13,280 Speaker 1: In a letter published in The Lancet in twenty twenty one, 531 00:33:13,320 --> 00:33:16,840 Speaker 1: Burgos stated, quote, the size of this portrait is congruent 532 00:33:16,920 --> 00:33:20,720 Speaker 1: with the other five paintings. The composition is similar, i e. 533 00:33:20,800 --> 00:33:24,280 Speaker 1: An illuminated face over a dark background, and the portrayed 534 00:33:24,320 --> 00:33:27,959 Speaker 1: individual wears a religious garment, a modest chawsible of a 535 00:33:27,960 --> 00:33:31,480 Speaker 1: similar color to the red scarf in the portrait representing envy. 536 00:33:32,320 --> 00:33:36,600 Speaker 1: The title of the portrait suggests it corresponds to sadness melancholy, 537 00:33:36,960 --> 00:33:41,000 Speaker 1: as described by the French psychiatrist Dominique Esquirol, who was 538 00:33:41,040 --> 00:33:45,160 Speaker 1: George's mentor. The condition is confirmed by the presence of 539 00:33:45,200 --> 00:33:48,480 Speaker 1: wrinkles on the brows of the portrayed patient, drawing the 540 00:33:48,480 --> 00:33:53,160 Speaker 1: classic omegasign omegam Melancholicum, which was described by the German 541 00:33:53,200 --> 00:33:58,760 Speaker 1: psychiatrist Heinrich Schul as a distinguishing feature of melancholy. Burgau 542 00:33:58,880 --> 00:34:01,520 Speaker 1: had first seen this paint in an exhibit of other 543 00:34:01,600 --> 00:34:06,040 Speaker 1: works by Jericho, and it took him by surprise. After 544 00:34:06,080 --> 00:34:09,000 Speaker 1: we went public, he was contacted by another person at 545 00:34:09,000 --> 00:34:12,360 Speaker 1: a gallery in Versailles who had what he believed was 546 00:34:12,360 --> 00:34:15,680 Speaker 1: another of the missing paintings. This one had a note 547 00:34:15,800 --> 00:34:18,399 Speaker 1: tucked into the back of it that said quote, this 548 00:34:18,520 --> 00:34:21,800 Speaker 1: portrait of an insane man painted by Jericho was given 549 00:34:21,840 --> 00:34:24,640 Speaker 1: to me by the widow of Di Marshal in eighteen 550 00:34:24,680 --> 00:34:29,640 Speaker 1: sixty six, Paris, nine November, Louis Lemaire. The paper the 551 00:34:29,680 --> 00:34:32,040 Speaker 1: note was written on was analyzed and found to be 552 00:34:32,080 --> 00:34:35,840 Speaker 1: from the nineteenth century, and that opened the door to 553 00:34:35,920 --> 00:34:40,279 Speaker 1: another possible discovery. Sort of. There is a painting in 554 00:34:40,280 --> 00:34:43,480 Speaker 1: the louver by Jericho called Portrait of a Man called 555 00:34:43,560 --> 00:34:47,000 Speaker 1: von Den, and it came to Burgos's attention as another 556 00:34:47,080 --> 00:34:51,160 Speaker 1: possible part of this series. It has long been attributed 557 00:34:51,200 --> 00:34:54,239 Speaker 1: to Jericho, but there is disagreement as to whether it 558 00:34:54,320 --> 00:34:57,200 Speaker 1: is part of this group of paintings. As of twenty 559 00:34:57,239 --> 00:34:59,879 Speaker 1: twenty four, there was not a consensus about whether these 560 00:35:00,080 --> 00:35:04,439 Speaker 1: new pieces were part of the ten Portrait series. And 561 00:35:04,520 --> 00:35:07,239 Speaker 1: in July of this year, which is twenty twenty five, 562 00:35:07,600 --> 00:35:14,000 Speaker 1: the French military withdrew its last troops from Senegal. We 563 00:35:14,040 --> 00:35:18,080 Speaker 1: get art, we get politics, we get gross stuff. You 564 00:35:18,120 --> 00:35:21,279 Speaker 1: get decomposing body parts. We can talk about all of 565 00:35:21,320 --> 00:35:24,879 Speaker 1: that on Friday. Yeah. I also have a listener mail 566 00:35:25,560 --> 00:35:29,560 Speaker 1: from our listener, Chloe, and I love this listener mail. 567 00:35:30,560 --> 00:35:33,480 Speaker 1: Chloe writes, Hey, Holly and Tracy, I've been listening to 568 00:35:33,520 --> 00:35:36,040 Speaker 1: your podcast for the longest time, and I finally thought 569 00:35:36,080 --> 00:35:38,719 Speaker 1: I had a good enough reason to justify writing to 570 00:35:38,760 --> 00:35:42,320 Speaker 1: you guys. Hey, you don't nobody needs to justify anything. 571 00:35:42,400 --> 00:35:45,520 Speaker 1: Just write and say hey, we're into it. Yes. I 572 00:35:45,600 --> 00:35:47,560 Speaker 1: know it's probably a small reason, but I really wanted 573 00:35:47,560 --> 00:35:50,200 Speaker 1: to write you. So here I am. I just recently 574 00:35:50,239 --> 00:35:53,120 Speaker 1: listened to the Edward Moybridge episode, and I was intrigued 575 00:35:53,160 --> 00:35:56,360 Speaker 1: that one of the names he chose for himself was Helios, because, 576 00:35:56,400 --> 00:35:58,480 Speaker 1: as you mentioned, it's the Greek name for sun, but 577 00:35:58,640 --> 00:36:01,520 Speaker 1: also was more specifically used to refer to the Greek 578 00:36:01,640 --> 00:36:05,319 Speaker 1: son god Helios. Helios also being a god could be 579 00:36:05,360 --> 00:36:09,280 Speaker 1: illuminating to Edward's personality. Oh yeah, you're right on the money. 580 00:36:09,480 --> 00:36:12,880 Speaker 1: I don't think that's an accident. Now, to refer to 581 00:36:12,880 --> 00:36:15,200 Speaker 1: the subject line, I have been listening to you guys 582 00:36:15,280 --> 00:36:17,760 Speaker 1: for a very long time, and I can vividly remember 583 00:36:18,160 --> 00:36:20,840 Speaker 1: the first time I started listening. I was introduced to 584 00:36:20,920 --> 00:36:23,279 Speaker 1: your podcast by my father when I was pretty young, 585 00:36:23,520 --> 00:36:27,320 Speaker 1: definitely in elementary school. My very first episode was, of course, 586 00:36:27,400 --> 00:36:30,360 Speaker 1: The Great Emu War, which my dad had found delightful 587 00:36:30,440 --> 00:36:32,480 Speaker 1: and set me up with because he knew I would 588 00:36:32,480 --> 00:36:35,680 Speaker 1: feel the same. Much to his chagrin, I found some 589 00:36:35,760 --> 00:36:40,239 Speaker 1: October episodes which I listened to after that. I hope 590 00:36:40,280 --> 00:36:42,200 Speaker 1: you found the ghost who was looking for her tooth. 591 00:36:42,760 --> 00:36:45,239 Speaker 1: Ever since about ten years now, I've been listening and 592 00:36:45,280 --> 00:36:47,520 Speaker 1: I just love everything about this podcast. I love the 593 00:36:47,560 --> 00:36:49,920 Speaker 1: factual way you present, and I love hearing behind the 594 00:36:49,920 --> 00:36:53,920 Speaker 1: scenes episodes where I can hear your personal takes on everything. Finally, 595 00:36:54,000 --> 00:36:57,120 Speaker 1: the way you approach queerness and queer historical figures has 596 00:36:57,160 --> 00:37:00,759 Speaker 1: been really impactful to me. It's precisely because queerness is 597 00:37:00,800 --> 00:37:03,120 Speaker 1: just another part of their story that I have felt 598 00:37:03,120 --> 00:37:05,480 Speaker 1: more comfortable in my own skin as I grew up. 599 00:37:06,040 --> 00:37:08,319 Speaker 1: This is very touching to me. It gets me choked up. 600 00:37:08,600 --> 00:37:10,919 Speaker 1: Oh so thank you. Me and my dad still listen 601 00:37:10,920 --> 00:37:13,480 Speaker 1: to you guys, sometimes together, sometimes apart. You make my 602 00:37:13,600 --> 00:37:16,400 Speaker 1: rides to work in school more enjoyable and help me 603 00:37:16,440 --> 00:37:18,480 Speaker 1: to do productive things that I wouldn't be able to 604 00:37:18,520 --> 00:37:21,120 Speaker 1: do otherwise. I believe this has led me to our 605 00:37:21,120 --> 00:37:24,520 Speaker 1: obligatory pet tax. I have two dogs and two cats. 606 00:37:24,840 --> 00:37:27,480 Speaker 1: First is Thor, my ten year old Golden Retriever, who 607 00:37:27,520 --> 00:37:30,719 Speaker 1: is scared of thunder and much loves air conditioning more 608 00:37:30,760 --> 00:37:33,600 Speaker 1: than any being I've ever met before. Second is my 609 00:37:33,640 --> 00:37:36,960 Speaker 1: three year old German Shepherd Doberman mix Loki. Although he 610 00:37:36,960 --> 00:37:39,600 Speaker 1: gets up to a small amount of mischief, he's really 611 00:37:39,600 --> 00:37:41,960 Speaker 1: sweet and loyal, choosing to follow me to every room 612 00:37:41,960 --> 00:37:44,600 Speaker 1: in the house. Who's gonna say that combo of dogs 613 00:37:44,760 --> 00:37:48,239 Speaker 1: is like a dog that is probably super clingy. Our 614 00:37:48,280 --> 00:37:51,480 Speaker 1: two cats are Sully and Boo think monsters inc. Who 615 00:37:51,520 --> 00:37:53,839 Speaker 1: are very nearly older than me and rightfully think they 616 00:37:53,840 --> 00:37:56,000 Speaker 1: own the play. Sorry, I don't have breeds for them. 617 00:37:56,280 --> 00:37:58,359 Speaker 1: They may be mut kitties, you know. At the vet 618 00:37:58,360 --> 00:38:01,480 Speaker 1: they call that a domestic short hair or long hair, 619 00:38:01,560 --> 00:38:04,799 Speaker 1: depending on your coat. Thank you so much for your time, 620 00:38:04,840 --> 00:38:06,719 Speaker 1: and thank you for giving me such wonderful stories to 621 00:38:06,800 --> 00:38:10,000 Speaker 1: listen to you with a great deal of respecting gratitude, Chloe, Chloe, 622 00:38:10,040 --> 00:38:12,120 Speaker 1: I love this email. I love these dogs. I want 623 00:38:12,160 --> 00:38:16,040 Speaker 1: to hug those dogs so bad and listen kitties too. 624 00:38:16,200 --> 00:38:18,000 Speaker 1: I want all of it. I want all of it. 625 00:38:19,160 --> 00:38:22,160 Speaker 1: The kitties are very pretty as well. Thank you so much. 626 00:38:22,200 --> 00:38:25,000 Speaker 1: This is so delightful and I love knowing that. And 627 00:38:25,080 --> 00:38:28,040 Speaker 1: I also am very honored that someone would grow up 628 00:38:28,080 --> 00:38:31,000 Speaker 1: with us and continue to listen and want us to 629 00:38:31,040 --> 00:38:34,080 Speaker 1: be part of their lives. It means a great deal 630 00:38:34,120 --> 00:38:36,160 Speaker 1: to me, So thank you, thank you, thank you, and 631 00:38:36,200 --> 00:38:38,319 Speaker 1: thank you for sharing your babies with us that are 632 00:38:38,360 --> 00:38:42,200 Speaker 1: so cute and listen. This is a good emaal for 633 00:38:42,280 --> 00:38:46,400 Speaker 1: right now, because it's about to be October time. We 634 00:38:46,520 --> 00:38:49,440 Speaker 1: got some scary stuff lined up. Hopefully it won't trouble 635 00:38:49,480 --> 00:38:53,880 Speaker 1: anyone anymore than you know cannibalism and rotting corpses in 636 00:38:53,920 --> 00:38:57,240 Speaker 1: your studio. I think we might even have the witch 637 00:38:57,320 --> 00:39:00,440 Speaker 1: looking for her tooth that you mentioned earlier in the 638 00:39:00,680 --> 00:39:05,040 Speaker 1: listener mail reading oh as a classic coming up. Great, great, 639 00:39:06,000 --> 00:39:07,680 Speaker 1: So thank you, thank you, thank you. If you would 640 00:39:07,719 --> 00:39:10,080 Speaker 1: like to write to us, you can do so so easy. 641 00:39:10,200 --> 00:39:14,200 Speaker 1: That email address is History Podcast at iHeartRadio dot com. 642 00:39:14,239 --> 00:39:16,959 Speaker 1: You can also subscribe to us on the iHeartRadio app 643 00:39:17,000 --> 00:39:19,759 Speaker 1: or anywhere you listen to your favorite shows, which if 644 00:39:19,760 --> 00:39:25,680 Speaker 1: you're into halloween stuff, we got October October spooky things coming, 645 00:39:25,800 --> 00:39:33,040 Speaker 1: so we hope we will see you there. Stuff you 646 00:39:33,080 --> 00:39:36,200 Speaker 1: missed in History Class is a production of iHeartRadio. For 647 00:39:36,280 --> 00:39:40,719 Speaker 1: more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, 648 00:39:40,840 --> 00:39:42,880 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.