The Death of Socrates

A pen and ink study shows a muscular, bearded man reclining on a couch at center, one arm raised, while draped figures crowd around him in a colonnaded hall. Some sit in the foreground, others lean in or turn away, and faint squared guidelines and architectural lines are visible.

Look closer: A small seated figure at the far left edge, partly hidden in shadow, is drawn with only a few strokes.

Artist

Jacques Louis David

Date

ca. 1786

Medium

Pen and black ink, over black chalk, touches of pen and brown ink; squared in black chalk

Source

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Size

3724 × 2525 px

Credit (appreciated, not required for public-domain works): The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Purchase, Walter and Leonore Annenberg Acquisitions Endowment Fund and Mr. and Mrs. J. Tomilson Hill and Mark Fisch and Rachel Davidson Gifts, 2015