Jacques Louis David, The Death of Socrates, Oil on canvas, 51 x 77 ¼ in., 1787.
David’s painting situates Socrates in the center of the painting, clad in a white robe, implying purity, surrounded by his followers as he reaches for his poisonous tonic of hemlock. His abdomen is vertically straight, his left leg is positioned on the ground while his right is above his bed—he appears to be in motion. This bodily position reflects Socrates’ proud demeanor to die as he lived: passionately discussing philosophy. David portrays Socrates as defiant in his confrontation with his impending mortality. On the ground is an unlocked chain foot-brace, which David places to remind the viewer of Socrates option to escape execution if he concedes his teachings (Plato 191). One follower in the left corridor grieves against the wall while on the opposite side three others are emotionally devastated. One follower covers his eyes, another covers his ears, and a third covers his eyes with one hand while the other reaches in the air, implying perhaps a plea to the gods. Within these three latter grievers, the first has abandoned his sight, the other refuses to believe what he is hearing, and the last has abandoned his rationality and desperately pleas to the gods. And yet, Socrates stands firm in his conviction as he bravely reaches for the cup of hemlock while sternly pointing above in the air. This again reflects Socrates’ adamant commitment to critical material existence.
The horizontal lining that situates Socrates at the center of the painting controls the attention of the viewer on Socrates and reflects the stoic calmness of Socrates. David portrays the followers with curved lining as they hunch and bend with grief, and yet in contrast, David vertically depicts Socrates. This contrast of lines positions Socrates as the subject of the painting, and yet the technic transcends mere positioning because it represents the innate personal and philosophical strength of Socrates. David also contrasts the form and color of the room with that of Socrates and his followers. The setting of the prison cell is dull and flat, with limited varieties of greys, yet the followers are clothed in bright colors of blue, red, and yellow. Through this technique David portrays the city-state of Athens as uncaring and empty while the power of philosophical thought has livened the grievers as symbolized through their vibrant colored attire. Within this very contrast between state and individuals, Socrates is epitomized in a white robe: a symbol for purity. He lives and is willing to die for the sake of his freethinking. The colors are muted and dark near the edges of the painting and become brighter and more striking as they approach Socrates. This color value imprints the intense action of the event and leads the viewer to perceive the cup of hemlock as approaching Socrates’ grasp, and consequently his death. Through the color, the viewer does not observe the historical moment, but rather witnesses the physical action of Socrates embracing his punishment with complete acceptance.
David painted The Death of Socrates in 1787, a mere two years before the outbreak of the French Revolution and this painting can appropriately be understood as reflective of the French atmosphere of the time. As the French Empire further succumbed to profound economic turmoil, intellectual and Enlightenment thinking proliferated in society (Hobsbawm 24). David would later become revolutionary dedicated during the French Revolution and his painting particularly reproduces the idealist thinking amongst French society prior to the revolution. The Death of Socrates portrays the lively spirit of intellectual fervor in contrast to the overbearing drabness of the state. Although preceding the actual revolution, the painting is a manifestation of intellectual thinking as the necessary voice against an oppressive, exploitative, and dwindling empire. In contrast to his subsequent work of The Death of Marat, in which the revolutionary, and personal friend of David (Johnson 124), Jean-Paul Marat lifelessly lies murdered in his bathtub, The Death of Socrates proclaims the survival of idealist and revolutionary thinking against the state, in the very rebellious candor of Socrates.
Works Cited
David, Jacques Louis. The Death of Socrates. 1787. Oil on canvas. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Web. Feb. 2016.
David, Jacques Louis. The Death of Marat. 1793. Oil on canvas. Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, Brussels. Web. Feb. 2016.
Hobsbawm, Eric. The Age of Revolution: 1789-1848. London: Abacus, 2003. Print.
Johnson, Dorothy. Jacques-Louis David: New Perspectives. Newark: University of Delaware Press, 2006. Print.
Plato. Euthyphro, Apology, Crito, Phaedo, Phaedrus. Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 2005. Print.
