“In addition to being an essential step in the elaboration of the Metropolitan picture, the present drawing is a fascinating document for our understanding of David’s working method. He first traces different lines of perspective and outlines in graphite the décor with the help of a ruler. He then adds, still using graphite, the figures represented naked and rapidly sketched. He returns a number of times to these figures leaving apparent many pentimenti in, for example, the position of Socrates’ legs or the arm of the slave holding the poisoned chalice. Finally, with the help of an assured pen and black ink, he goes over the contours of the figures in the positions he wants to adopt. Then he draws clothes over their nude forms…”
READ FULL ESSAY: Christie’s
See More
Tag: Jacques-Louis David’s The Death of Socrates, Part I
High Resolution Images:
Dr. Beth Harris and Dr. Steven Zucker, “Jacques-Louis David, The Death of Socrates,” in Smarthistory, October 26, 2022, accessed January 30, 2023, https://smarthistory.org/jacques-louis-david-the-death-of-socrates/.
Read More
Jacques-Louis David at wikiwand
Jacques-Louis David at The Art Story
Thanks for Visiting 🙂
~Sunnyside
At Sunnyside - Where Truth and Beauty Meet 
Thank you for your erudite details of the painter’s method of creating his compositions.
Joanna
LikeLiked by 1 person
My pleasure, always, Joanna. 🙂🌺
LikeLike
It’s amazing to get insight into a Master’s creative process. Thanks for sharing.
LikeLiked by 1 person
My pleasure, Rosaliene! 🙂🌺
LikeLiked by 1 person
This type of post is one of the (many!) reasons I love to come here. The video is so insightful and interesting to me. It is wonderful and exciting to read about the thought process and how these beautiful paintings are created. Thank you! ❤
LikeLiked by 1 person
Trying to understand the process is what I enjoy most. I am so pleased you like this, Sheila. Thanks for adding to the conversation! 😎🌺
LikeLike
David was a superb sketcher, with a great attention to structure and detail. Nice post.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I am so happy you enjoyed this, too. Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Vivienne. 🙂🌺
LikeLike