Gericault uses the space in his painting to depict the raft and sailors close and in the foreground, and he depicts the ship very far off in the background. The change in size of the ship in the background implies a great distance from the raft. The change in the size of the waves also imply depth in the painting. Gericault creates a rhythm in his painting by creating a dark wave on the left side of the painting then adding in the sail, and the sailor lifted up, and then ending on the right side with a smaller dark wave. The rhythm comes together with the unity to bring cohesiveness to the artwork. Gericault creates compositional unity in the painting by repeating the human figure and the shape of waves to bring together the artwork. The human
