The French frigate Méduse was part of a convoy setting out in 1816 to assert French claims in Senegal following the Napoleonic Wars. Commanded by Captain Jean-Baptiste Henri Savigny and influenced by political turmoil, the ship became stranded on the Bank of Arguin, off the coast of West Africa. Facing navigational challenges and hasty decisions made by the captain, the crew found themselves in a precarious position when the ship ran aground. After the grounding, only a fraction of the crew and passengers could be accommodated on lifeboats, leaving the majority with no choice but to construct an improvised raft. The raft was over 20 meters long, fashioned from the remains of the frigate, intended to hold as many survivors as possible. They drifted for days, enduring exposure, dehydration, and extreme starvation. The survivors faced harrowing choices in the struggle for food, leading to instances of cannibalism, as desperation set in. Finally, after 13 days adrift, only 15 individuals were eventually rescued by a passing ship, the Argus. The plight of the survivors, along with the incompetence of the French government that allowed such a failure, sparked significant public outrage and became a symbol of the failures of leadership during the restoration period in France.The tragedy was not only marked by the harrowing human experience but also memorialized artistically. Théodore Géricault's renowned painting, The Raft of the Medusa, became an iconic representation of human suffering and resilience, drawing attention to the social and political implications of the event. This work would go on to influence the Romantic movement and serve as an indictment of the systemic failures of the French government at the time.