Death of Socrates

Born in Lille, Wicar studied art in the French capital, entering the studio of Jacques-Louis David in 1781. He accompanied David to Rome in 1784 and, with the exception of two brief periods, spent the remainder of his life in Italy. He achieved success as a painter of portraits and history subjects in the style of his master. He was elected to the Accademia di S Luca in Rome as well as academies in Naples, Milan, and Bologna. Wicar was also an important collector of drawings, building up a series of collections, one of which formed the core of the Musée des Beaux-Arts, Lille.

Here, a quickly executed compositional study in black chalk shows the ancient philosopher Socrates in prison, holding his chalice of poison and addressing a large assembled group of acolytes and observers. Steps can be seen in the arched opening at right and a diagonal line indicates the fall of light against the back wall.