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Crito

ca. 1786–87
Not on view
This highly finished drawing is a study for David's Death of Socrates (31.45), which hangs in the Metropolitan's European Paintings Galleries. The painting depicts the philosopher in prison in 399 BC. Sentenced to death for corrupting the youth of Athens, he pauses to address his followers before drinking the hemlock. This sheet is a study for the pose and drapery of Crito, a wealthy Athenian disciple who, in the painting, sits by Socrates' side and beseeches him not to drink the poison. The grid drawn in black chalk, known as squaring, would have assisted the artist in transferring the design from paper to canvas.

Other studies for the painting were acquired by the museum in 2013 (2013.59) and 2015 (2015.149).

(Perrin Stein, July 2017)

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Crito
  • Artist: Jacques Louis David (French, Paris 1748–1825 Brussels)
  • Date: ca. 1786–87
  • Medium: Black chalk, stumped, heightened with white chalk; squared in black chalk
  • Dimensions: Sheet: 21 1/8 × 16 5/16 in. (53.6 × 41.4 cm)
  • Classification: Drawings
  • Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1961
  • Object Number: 61.161.1
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

More Artwork

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The Death of Socrates, Jacques Louis David French, Oil on canvas
The Death of Socrates
Jacques Louis David
1787
The Death of Socrates, Jacques Louis David French, Pen and black ink, over black chalk, touches of pen and brown ink; squared in black chalk
The Death of Socrates
Jacques Louis David
ca. 1786
To David
Multiple artists/makers
1831
Dedié au Prince Joseph frère ainé de Napoléon le Grand
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Marat, As He Was At The Moment Of His Death
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Jacques Louis Copia
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