Political Criticism: Morality in Art

Get cozy Honeys, because---like the sweaters we are pulling out of our closets these days---we're getting into some heavy topics. Specifically, politics. But don't worry, we aren't starting any fights over turkeys this year; we're looking at some very old politics. In particular, some hidden parallels between the political criticism in Gericault's Raft of the Medusa and in two of Goya's aquatint series. The two are separated by nearly fifty years and many stylistic changes, yet their striking styles, their ability to raise a viewer's anxiety, and their ability to satirize the vices of their higher classes in ways that moved the public are strikingly similar. This episode, we talk through Gericault's work in order to understand an art historical legend, and how its impacts resonated long after the controversy of his painting faded.

Source list here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1TIRCwEOLtbot1Fq2bto3vZtX-Wj1SBiR9c9BvU7ChJc/edit?usp=drive_link