“Death of Socrates” is an oil on canvas painting created by a French painter named Jacques-Louis David in 1787. Figure 1 depicts the painting which portrays an intimate scene of the Greek philosopher Socrates during the last moments of his life. At this time, he faced death by execution that had been ordered by the courts at the same time that he is facing his destiny. He has either just consumed or is about to consume the poison that will kill him and he sits surrounded by his friends who are all filled with sorrow and feelings of aimlessness once their great thinker is no longer there to lead them.
The “Death of Socrates” presents a man, Socrates, half-naked and draped in white, sitting on a bed without anything to support his back. His left leg rests on the floor; the other one is extended over the bed. Socrates’ death is to be witnessed by twelve other men who seem to be sad about his fate. His right-hand hovers over a cup which is held by a young slave, his back turned to the viewer, wearing a red tunic. Socrates holds his left hand up with his index finger pointing upwards. Next to Socrates and in the forefront of the picture plane sits a man wearing orange. He sits on a stone bust as a symbol of the ascending paralysis, beginning in Socrates’ feet and creeping steadily up his legs toward his chest, which will kill the philosopher. He has his right hand resting over Socrates’ lap indicating its progress. Behind this old man and to the left of Socrates are five men aged between sixty and twenty years old seemingly in a state of profound grief. One of them, wearing red and blue clothes, is facing the prison wall putting his right hand on it and covering his eyes with his left hand while he is standing. Another one wearing brown is raising his hands near to the lobes of his ears pronouncing some words. A third one wearing green and blue clothes is rising to cover his face with his hands – perhaps he doesn’t want anyone to see him cry. His body is not aligned properly and he is not standing straight up. Finally, there are two boys. One of them is wearing blue. They are standing next to each other with their heads aligned slightly down and turned away from Socrates’ body. The right side of figure 1 is dominated by a man who sits in front of Socrates’ bed wearing white. His hands are held tightly together and he sits on a piece of stone with his head turned slightly down watching the floor. This implies that he is very sad and thinking deeply of his grief. Behind the old men there is a man in blue and brown clothes who has hands up and stands facing the wall. In the upper right-hand corner of the painting, there is a group of people; some women and two men grieving outside the chamber. All of the previous figures are in a state of sadness which has been represented by their facial expressions.
The setting of the painting is a prison that has arches on the window and an arch in the hallway. Moreover, there is a lamp found behind Socrates. The cell is dark, not lightened. There is not much furniture or other structural visuals in the place. The horizon is dominated by the wooden bed Socrates lies on. Besides this, there are small branches of wood thrown on the floor. In addition, there are some shackles on the floor, which are equally important to illustrate the sense of freedom for Socrates. The walls of the cell are obscure and thus it is difficult to differentiate their true colors.
In David’s painting, the colors are clearly defined and easily read. Two figures wear white which suggests that they share a relationship with them. On the right-hand side of the painting, the orange tunic echoes the red and yellow of the figures in the back, probably because there is a harmony between them on the color wheel palette. The colors used in the painting are primary colors of red, green and blue which reflect a more serious ambition to the captured heroes of the painting. The bright blue on Socrates’ clothes is slightly repeated on another figure. These similarly colored clothes within the painting help us to move our eyes across and go deeply through the arch hallway to the end of the picture. Red color is repeated all over the painting through crossing method. We can see it on the right, left and especially on the center of the painting. Thus motion lets the eyes feel reset and can move very easily and rhythmically from the front side to the backside.
The painting is asymmetrically balanced. In the right half of the work, people are very close together making the volume of the painting very busy and active. Furthermore, the figures in the middle area are standing next to each other in a three-dimensional aspect. In the background of the painting we see a family who has been taken away from the prison where Socrates is facing the death.
The specific distribution of the dark and light strokes of the painter’s brush in the “Death of Socrates” creates significant implications about driven character of the central figure. David used invisible brushstrokes applied very softly on the painting’s surface. They are the same everywhere. David plays with the lighting here as we notice that the light coming from the window in the background and the lamp are not the main source of the light in this scene. The true source of light that pours onto Socrates and his disciples is unknown to the viewer, but it serves its primary function to indicate the divinity of Socrates, his enlightened ideas and to increase his presence. Moreover, this light functions to draw the attention of Socrates. Moreover, the colors used are well balanced, as they are being dulled in the front and a little bit brighter when the figures are placed deeper on the painting.
In brief, “Death of Socrates” painting which was painted by Jacques–Louis David shows the last moment of Socrates’ life in a classical way painted on canvas. The spectator will feel the sense of realism in the theme as it has been painted smoothly using oil colors. Moreover, color is used normatively in David’s painting. They have been presented in the painting in a warm tone followed by a bright color which produces an atmosphere of mode and emotion. The painter played with oppressive space in the painting which implies harmony between all elements and figures. While the busy space makes the figure look observed, he painted Socrates higher than anyone else in this painting to symbolize that he is the greatest one in the painting.The gesture and movements in the painting demonstrate how all figures are affected and have a sense of sadness and grief regarding Socrates’ death, but on the other hand Socrates seems to be very calm and at peace. In short, David was successful in imagining the last moment of Socrates’ life and emblazing his death in a realistic mode and atmosphere.