The Death of Socrates

1787

Oil on canvas, 51 × 77 1/4 in. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

A philosopher who chose death over recanting stays calm while his followers grieve: reason set against feeling.

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Socrates sits upright at the centre, the most brightly lit figure; his pointing hand and reaching hand make one clear gesture.
Mourners on both sides bend and turn away, so their curved backs frame his straight body.
The stone wall behind runs flat across the picture and stops the eye, broken only by one arched opening at left.

Shown at the Salon of 1787, lent by M. de Trudaine; the subject comes from Plato's Phaedo, and Plato sits at the foot of the bed.
David consulted scholars of antiquity on the furniture and clothing.