The Death of Socrates
1787 · Oil on canvas · The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
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About this work
- Artist
- Jacques-Louis David (1748–1825)
- Year
- 1787
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Original size
- 129.5 × 196.2 cm
- Collection
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
- Movement
- Neoclassicism
Condemned by Athens for corrupting its youth, Socrates reaches for the cup of hemlock without looking at it, one finger raised as he finishes a last argument about the immortality of the soul. His disciples grieve around the stone bed; the executioner turns away as he hands over the poison; Plato, who was not present, sits at the foot of the bed with his back turned, and Crito grips the philosopher's thigh. David painted the scene in 1787, two years before the Revolution, for Charles-Michel Trudaine de la Sablière, and it was praised at the Salon as the most perfect of modern pictures. The composition, lit from the left across a frieze of figures in a bare prison, is Neoclassicism at its most severe, and the subject, a man choosing principle over life, became a model for revolutionary virtue. The Metropolitan Museum of Art bought the painting in 1931.
This print reproduces the whole work, uncropped, from a high-resolution scan of the original. The original is in the public domain.
Where it works
A frieze of mourning disciples around a white-robed philosopher reaching for the hemlock, in reds, whites and stone grey, for a study, library or office at 24×16 in black. Dark grey, olive or ochre walls hold the drama; it pairs with the Oath of the Horatii.
Style, size & framing detail
- Style
- Neoclassicism painting
- Era
- 18th century (1787)
- Orientation
- Landscape
- Mood
- grand
- Rooms
- study or library, home office, living room, dining room
- Good gift for
- housewarming, art lovers
Size. We'd hang this one at 24×16. Prints at 18×12, 24×16 in — 18×12 for a shelf, desk or a gallery-wall grid; 24×16 above a console or sideboard.
Framing. The gallery ground is part of the print, so frame it without a mat — natural wood flatters the lighter palette; black sharpens it.
Pairing. Pairs as a set of three with other famous painting prints (10% off three or more).
Details & materials
Shipping & returns
Is this the whole painting, or a crop?
Is The Death of Socrates in the public domain?
What is it printed on?
When was The Death of Socrates painted, and in what medium?
What size works above a sofa or bed?
About this design
The Madten promise
An exhibition poster
The same artwork as a gallery exhibition poster — title, artist & date typeset beneath the image on a soft ground.
