I did graduate from MassArt – which recently got renamed to Massachusetts College of Art and Design by the way. I don’t worry about the name changing – when my grandmother graduated from it, it was the Massachusetts Normal School of Art. As I am sure was true in her day as well as mine, graduation requirements included several Art History classes. Make that “Slide and Fact Memorization Classes, Dreaded by Nearly All.” Not the highlight of any semester, and it wasn’t because of a lack of enthusiasm from the teachers, it just was dull.

So imagine my surprise when I picked up The Wreck of the Medusa by Jonathan Mills – and actually liked it!This fascinating book is based on one of the best-known paintings of the Romantic movement in French painting in the early 19th century, “The Wreck of the Medusa” by Theodore Gericault. More than a book about a painting, this book tells the story of everything – the ship “The Medusa,” the political atmosphere at the time, the struggles France was going through, the colonial history of Senegal, and the stories of many of the men involved. It also gives you much more of a background on Gericault than you ever get in an Art History class, details of his personal life, health and politics that all formed a strong influence on this painting.

The Medusa was an actual ship that wrecked because of incompetent captain, off the coast of Africa. Some passengers were allowed in lifeboats, but many were left on a hastily and poorly bult raft, that they were told would be towed by one of the lifeboats. Soon, though, the raft was cut adrift, quite literally. People on the raft went through the worst humanity had to offer, and most did not survive. Those who were on the lifeboats hardly had a better time of it, landing on the desert sands, through which they had to walk, starving and dehydrated, and encountering nomadic peoples that they didn’t know how to communicate.

Both the wreck, and its impact on the politics of French society and individuals – both of the artist Gericault and the survivors – make for a fascinating study. And this painting is often mentioned – I just saw it last week on Rick Steve’s Travel Show on TV, so knowing more about it is just really cool! If you have interest in art, politics, history, or even just people, I recommend this book.