Conceived as a closed space only lit by an occulus in the two early drawings, it becomes in the present sheet a vast room with a vaulted gallery leading to a staircase on the left.

He also makes important changes to the prison cell setting. If the four figures in the foreground do not differ dramatically from the two early drawings (however it should be noted that Crito's pose differs from the two earlier drawings - now has his right hand on Socrates’ thigh), David adds three figures to the group of disciples at the right of the composition. Compared with these two sheets, the present lot marks a decisive evolution towards the final composition of The Death of Socrates and must have been executed not long before he started work on the canvas. Recently the Metropolitan Museum acquired a sheet, also in black chalk and grey wash, which shows only minor differences from the 1782 study and which must have been executed by David not long after (Acc. That early date is confirmed by the presence on its verso of two figures which are preparatory to Horace entering Rome, a large drawing from 1781 now in the Albertina, Vienna (Rosenberg and Prat, op. In the background on the left David has lightly sketched in black chalk a staircase where a few figures congregate, including Socrates’ wife, Xanthippe.ĭavid seems to have considered this subject for some time before he received Trudaine’s commission as there is a compositional study, in black chalk and grey wash, signed and dated 1782, now in an American private collection (fig. On the right some of Socrates’s disciples make an elaborate show of their grief. Seated on a stool by Socrates is Crito, a rich Athenian who remained loyal to the philosopher until the end. David has represented Plato (even though he was not there in reality) at the foot of the bed, motionless and absorbed in his thought. He is seated on his bed ready to take the cup that is presented to him by a slave while he raises his left arm as if to ask his friends to remain dignified. Socrates, rather than fleeing when the opportunity arose, used his death as a final lesson for his pupils, and faced it calmly. The philosopher (470/69-399 BC), having been convicted of corrupting the youth of Athens and introducing strange gods, was sentenced to die by drinking the poison hemlock.

The painting was commissioned in 1786 by Charles-Michel Trudaine de la Sablière (1766-1794), a wealthy conseiller in the Paris parliament.ĭavid took his inspiration from the passage of Plato’s Phaedo recounting Socrates’ death. This drawing, until now known only through its appearance in the 1889 Coutan-Hauguet sale catalogue, is an important addition to the corpus of the artist’s drawings and offers great insight into the conception of his masterpiece. A study for David’s celebrated canvas The Death of Socrates now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York ( fig.

Plato on the death of socrates