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Socrate au moment de prendre la ciguë

1787
Not on view
Accusé par le gouvernement d’Athènes de renier le panthéon et de corrompre les jeunes gens par ses enseignements, Socrate se vit forcé de choisir : renoncer à ses convictions ou mourir en buvant la ciguë. David a représenté le philosophe discourant calmement de l’immortalité de l’âme devant ses disciples effondrés. Le tableau, dont le héros stoïque est librement inspiré du Phèdre de Platon, est peut-être le plus achevé des manifestes néoclassiques de David. John Boydell, graveur et éditeur, écrivit à Sir Joshua Reynolds qu’il s’agissait « du plus grand défi artistique depuis la chapelle Sixtine et les chambres de Raphaël […] ; une œuvre qui aurait fait honneur à l’Athènes de Périclès ».

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Titre: Socrate au moment de prendre la ciguë
  • Artiste: Jacques-Louis David, Français, 1748–1825
  • Date: 1787
  • Technique: Huile sur toile
  • Dimensions: 129,5 x 196,2 cm
  • Crédits: Collection Catharine Lorillard Wolfe, fonds Wolfe, 1931
  • Accession Number: 31.45
  • Curatorial Department: European Paintings

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