Chardin . u step back the objectstake form and begin to be real a later occasion he describes Chardinsstyle as a harsh method of painting withthe thumb as much as with the brush; ajuxtaposition of touches, a confused and PLATE IV.—LE B£N£DICITE (GRACEBEFORE MEAT) (In the Louvre) Le Benedicite, or Grace before Meat, is perhaps the mostpopular and best known of all Chardins domestic genre pieces. Itcombines the highest technical and artistic qualities with a touchingsimplicity of sentiment that must endear it even to those who cannotappreciate its artistry. Several replicas of it are k
Chardin . u step back the objectstake form and begin to be real a later occasion he describes Chardinsstyle as a harsh method of painting withthe thumb as much as with the brush; ajuxtaposition of touches, a confused and PLATE IV.—LE B£N£DICITE (GRACEBEFORE MEAT) (In the Louvre) Le Benedicite, or Grace before Meat, is perhaps the mostpopular and best known of all Chardins domestic genre pieces. Itcombines the highest technical and artistic qualities with a touchingsimplicity of sentiment that must endear it even to those who cannotappreciate its artistry. Several replicas of it are known, but theoriginal is probably the version in the Hermitage Collection atSt. Petersburg. The Louvre owns two examples—one from thecollection of Louis XV., another from the La Caze Collection. Thislatter version appeared three times in the Paris sale-rooms, the lasttime in 1876, when it realised the sum of j£20 ! Another authenticreplica is in the Marcille Collection, and yet another at CHARDIN 35 sparkling accumulation of pasty and richcolours. Diderot is borne out by Bachau-mont who at the same period writes: Hismethod is irregular. He places his coloursone after the other, almost without mixing, sothat his work bears a certain resemblanceto mosaic, or point carre description, given by two indepen-dent contemporaries, almost suggests thetechnique of the modern impressionists andpointillists; and if the present appearanceof Chardins paintings scarcely tallies withDiderots and Bachaumonts explanation, itshould not be forgotten that a century and ahalf have passed over these erstwhile rudeand violent mosaics of colour touches, andthat this stretch of time is quite sufficientto allow the colours to re-act upon eachother—in a chemical sense, to permeateeach other, to fuse and blend, and to forma mellow, warm, harmonious surface thatshows no trace of harsh and abrupt it would appear that Chardin dis-counted the effects of time and
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