The vanishing point of the pictures lies just above the head of Plato who is seated at the foot of Socrates’ bed. While most of the other figures appear to be struck with grief over Socrates’ impending death, Plato’s posture implies a feeling of unhappy acceptance – his impotence unable to affect change – perhaps an acceptance that his great teacher is making the right decision to take his own life rather than flee.
The background to the picture is rather plain, much like The Oath of the Horatii and The Lictors Returning to Brutus the Bodies of his Sons, other neo-classical paintings by David completed within two years either side of The Death of Socrates. This serves to focus the viewer’s attention on the characters and reminds us that it is the action and qualities embodied in the figures that are the important thing here and not the setting.
The painting was completed in 1787, two years before the “start” of the Revolution. One message the painting portrays is martyrdom. Socrates was famously a martyr for his beliefs and was sentenced to death by the Athens government. David is supporting the principle that individuals should be able to speak out and act against a corrupt or oppressive government and that freedom was the ability to think and act for yourself. In this way he was clearly a supporter of revolutionary principles.