The Death of Socrates jigsaw puzzle

About this puzzle

The Death of Socrates is a free online jigsaw puzzle you can play straight in your browser, at any size from 12 to 500 pieces. Drag a piece near where it belongs and it snaps into place; joined pieces then move together as one. Your progress saves on this device, so you can close the tab and carry on later — and every finish earns points towards your next level and grows something in My Garden.

The picture is a work by Jacques Louis David , 1787, in the collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. It is in the public domain (Public Domain (CC0)), which is why we can offer it here at full resolution and free of charge.

About the painting

Condemned to death by Athens in 399 BC, the philosopher Socrates reaches calmly for the cup of hemlock while still teaching, his hand raised. Around him his followers turn away in grief; his pupil Plato sits at the foot of the bed. Painted in 1787, it is one of the defining works of Neoclassicism, admired for its clarity and its stage-like arrangement of figures.

How to solve it

David’s crisp outlines and bright robes make the figures easy to separate. Build Socrates and the bed at the centre, then each follower by the colour of his robe. The stone walls and arches behind give straight lines; the dark corners take longest.

Puzzle facts

Times are for a newer solver; see how long a jigsaw puzzle takes.

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