The Raft of the Medusa
Géricault's last efforts were directed toward preliminary studies for several epic compositions, including the "Opening of the Doors of the Spanish Inquisition" and the "African Slave Trade". The preparatory drawings suggest works of great ambition, but Géricault's waning health intervened. Weakened by riding accidents and chronic tubercular infection, Géricault died in Paris in 1824 after a long period of suffering. His bronze figure reclines, brush in hand, on his tomb at Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, above a low-relief panel of " The Raft of the Medusa".