The Death of Socrates

A seated, bare-chested old man in the center raises one finger while reaching for a cup held by a servant at the right, as bearded companions weep and gesture around a low bed. A standing figure in red turns away with a hand to his face, and a lamp and chains lie on the stone floor. Oil on canvas, 1787, in a dim, dramatic composition lit from the upper left.

Look closer: Chains and a lamp lie on the stone floor in the foreground, a detail of the prison setting.

Artist

Jacques Louis David

Date

1787

Medium

Oil on canvas

Source

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Size

4000 × 2663 px

Credit (appreciated, not required for public-domain works): The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Catharine Lorillard Wolfe Collection, Wolfe Fund, 1931