Jean Siméon Chardin was an 18th-century French painter. He is considered a master of still life, and is also noted for his genre paintings which depict kitchen maids, children, and domestic activities. Carefully balanced composition, soft diffusion of light, and granular impasto characterize his work.
Self-portrait, 1771, pastel, Louvre
Self Portrait at an Easel (ca. 1779), pastel, 40.5 x 32.5 cm., Louvre
Françoise-Marguerite Pouget (1707–1791), 2nd wife of Chardin (1775), pastel, 46 x 38 cm., Louvre
Jar of Apricots (1758), oil on canvas, 57 x 51 cm., Art Gallery of Ontario
A still life is a work of art depicting mostly inanimate subject matter, typically commonplace objects which are either natural or human-made.
Juan Sánchez Cotán, Still Life with Game Fowl, Vegetables and Fruits (1602), Museo del Prado, Madrid
Still life on a 2nd-century mosaic, with fish, poultry, dates and vegetables from the Vatican museum
Glass bowl of fruit and vases. Roman wall painting in Pompeii (around 70 AD), Naples National Archaeological Museum, Naples, Italy
Hans Memling (1430–1494), Vase of Flowers (1480), Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid. According to some scholars the Vase of Flowers is filled with religious symbolism.
