The Death of Socrates
1787 · Oil on canvas · The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
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This print
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 full-bleed edition prints the work edge to edge from a high-resolution scan of the original, very slightly cropped (a few percent at most) to fit the sheet. The gallery edition shows the whole work, uncropped. 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. Printed edge to edge: a slim black or dark wood frame right to the image, or let the canvas wrap do the framing. Also available gallery-wrapped on canvas, ready to hang with no frame.
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.
A fine-art print
The same artwork as a clean fine-art print — the image shown large with a minimal caption.
