Explore the Creation and history of this artwork.
Rather than a royal commission, David received a direct private commission for the work in 1786 from the wealthy Charles-Michel Trudaine de la Sablière, the youngest son of Trudaine de Montigny's and around 20 years old at the time.  Trudaine was intrigued by a drama that Denis Diderot had considered writing but never completed.  One of the dramatic scenes that Diderot's unfinished did include was his death, which led to the commission for a painting.  David's friend at the time André Chénier was also a member of the "Trudaine society" circle, and David appears to have followed Chénier's suggestions on matters such as the pose of Socrates in reaching out for the cup while still teaching.  More generally, Socrates was a popular subject at the time as an example of Enlightenment values: a man who kept to the truth with admirable rationality and self-control.David had created an initial treatment as early as 1782, and he returned to this early composition now that he had a commission.  He consulted Father Jean Adry, a Hellenist and scholar on the subject, on the circumstances of Socrates death. One of Adry's letters has survived; he recommended that Plato should be shown as immobile (although Plato was not actually present), that Crito be shown with more emotion, and that Apollodorus (on the extreme right in the painting) should be visibly filled with emotion.It was during David's first trip to Rome that he began to study the depiction of funerary scenes and to draw many examples. Many of David's major works stem from these funerary drawings. In The Death of Socrates, David examines a philosopher's approach to death. Socrates is stoic and calm because he sees death as a separate, actual realm, a different state of being from life but not an end to being.  In the painting, Socrates's gesture shows us that he is still teaching, even in the moment before his death.
Denis Diderot Crito André Chénier Rome Trudaine de Montigny's Plato Enlightenment Apollodorus Socrates Socrate