Jacques Louis David's 'Death Of Socrates'

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In Gallery 614 of the Met there is a painting that is waiting to be admired by all who enter the museum. It is called "the greatest effort of art since the Sistine Chapel and the stanze of Raphael” (Met). It is a narrative that packs raw emotion with the a mastery of light, contrast, color, and composition. It is reminiscent of the great works of art by Leonardo Da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Raphael, but it is not from the High Renaissance in Italy. Instead it is from France in 1787. The artist is Jacques Louis David and the painting is called The Death of Socrates. The painting asks the viewer an important political and philosophical question; is one willing to die for their beliefs?

The first impression a viewer has is the size of the painting. At about 4.25 feet in width and 6.5 feet in length it has the size to display comfortably a full scene. While not the largest painting, it allows the viewer to observe even minute details in the sense to get a better understanding. The viewer can realize what the painting is. It is not a still life, a landscape, or …show more content…
You can see his face and exposed torso against the dark background. Socrates is facing the viewer as opposed to the other people in the scene. He is truly the center because the people are looking towards him and so to does the viewer. These aspects help direct the eye to the main figure, reinforcing its graphic prominence. David has idealized Socrates because although he has the face of an old man with white hair and a beard, he has the body of a much younger man with a better physicality. There is an emphasis on the musculature of the arms of Socrates. There is also a great emphasis on the hands and the gestures they are making. From the woman in the background possibly waving goodbye, to being used to cover eyes and ears by the men, and to reach for the cup and to point upwards by the man in grey on the
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