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Jacques Louis David Essay

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Painted in France, Paris in the style of Neo-Classicism, Jacques Louis David’s The Death of Socrates is one of the better-known examples of art produced by this artist of wide-range styles. Jacques Louis David painted probably one of his most famous paintings in art history “The Death of Socrates" in 1787, an art composition in its simplest form. In this painting, completed in 1787 as an oil on canvas, It has a height of 51 inches, and a length of 77 ¼ inches. The Death of Socrates by Jacques Louis David is a perfect example of a neoclassical painter using a famous work of literature, in this case Plato’s Phaedo, as his source of inspiration. The painting portrays one of Socrates’ final moments before he drinks the Hemlock and ultimately dies as a result. Socrates was brought up on charges of speaking out against the beliefs of Athens and corrupting the minds of the youth. An analysis of the painting’s historical …show more content…

Socrates believed there to be an existence after death. He believed that the great minds of the past all were gathered and conversed over the various plights of man-kind. His acceptance of death as a result of his philosophical beliefs is made clear in the painting by his unusually calm demeanor given the situation he finds himself in, as well as his fearless reach for the chalice of hemlock. It is widely believed throughout the philosophical community that “The unexamined life is not worth living.” Socrates may have shared this belief, and knowing he would no longer be able to examine life as he knew it if he chose exile, chose to die. Philosophy has been defined as the art of learning how to die well. Socrates, being a well-known philosopher and strong in his beliefs may have felt he had accomplished all that was possible for this life. This would account for the confidence in his decision to leave this world and move onto the next plane of existence (“The Death of Socrates - Jacques-Louis

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