What is Neoclassicism?

EuropeEarly Modern Art18th CenturyFranceAll VideosABCs of Art HistoryAP Art History

Feb 16

Written By AQ

Speaker: Dr. Heather Graham

David's Death of Socrates and Looking to Antiquity

Jacques-Louis David’s Death of Socrates (1787) depicts the philosopher calmly choosing death over abandoning his convictions, presenting his moral integrity as more important than life itself. The painting is an example of Neoclassicism, an eighteenth-century movement marked by renewed fascination with ancient Greek and Roman art. In this video, we discuss how Neoclassical artists adopted classical forms, like clear geometry, idealized anatomy, shallow space, and restrained emotion, to evoke reason, order, and virtue.

A group of men in stages of mourning surround a figure holding is finger up. — Jacques-Louis David, *The Death of Socrates*, 1787, oil on canvas, 51 x 77 1/4 in. (129.5 x 196.2 cm). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC. © Dr. Lauren Kilroy-Ewbank

David’s painting not only imitates ancient style but also revives an ancient subject whose story resonated with Enlightenment ideals of reason, civic duty, and self-sacrifice. Painted just before the French Revolution, the work encouraged viewers to think about justice, good leadership, and standing up for one’s values.