The Raft of the Medusa
Géricault continually returned to the military themes of his early paintings, and the series of lithographs he undertook on military subjects after his return from Italy are considered some of the earliest masterworks in that medium. Perhaps his most significant, and certainly most ambitious work, is "The Raft of the Medusa" (1818–19), which depicted the aftermath of a contemporary French shipwreck, "Meduse", in which the captain had left the crew and passengers to die.