The Death Of Socrates, By Jacques-Louis David

The Death of Socrates is an exemplar of the Neoclassical period in France that Jacques-Louis David had a large influence in. David’s earliest explorations of this subject date back to 1782, when he produced a similar compositional sketch with pen and black ink. He returned to this theme in 1786, following a commision from a wealthy conseiller in the Paris Parliament.

By the beginning of the 18th century oil painting was a well established artistic technique. The advantages to painting in oil was their flexibility and depth in colour, oil was also very slow to dry, providing the artist with more opportunity to blend and layer. David followed an elaborate method for preparing his major paintings. He typically progressed from quick sketches to executing more refined compositional studies, adding various small changes and improvements with each rendition. Once the

All this reinstating his importance in the narrative in that he willingly died for the principals that believed in. Socrates was tried in Athenian court for “corrupting the minds of the youth, and failing to believe the gods of the state.” He was sentenced to death by poison hemlock, it is recounted that he did not dispute this ruling, instead using it as a opportunity to teach his final lesson. David took cues from the stark simplicity of Greek and Roman art and the ancient obsession with anatomy and musculature, a prominent example of this would be Socrates’ figure. As a 70-year old man at the time of his death, David paints a rather idealized version of him; rigid and